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Retail
4 minutes read

Top 3 Elements That Make Progressive Web Apps Perfect For eCommerce 

By Guest Author
By Guest Author
Retail
4 minutes read

In the eCommerce world, a lot of the battle for sales and customers is won and lost on the smartphone battlefield. Smartphones have such incredible capabilities these days, not to mention the ever-increasing screen sizes, that they are genuinely beginning to replace laptops and desktops in large swathes of average users’ online experiences. One of the most recent and interesting developments in smartphone technology for business is the PWA, or Progressive Web Apps. PWAs seek to solve the native/global issue surrounding apps, meaning the problem of apps that are web-based and therefore not-optimized for the specific device or apps that are device-oriented but required multiple versions for multiple devices. PWAs are web-based apps that act like native apps, specific to your device, meaning that it kills two birds with one stone. There are 3 new features that make the possibility of using PWAs, a concept that has only been around a few years now, an ultra-viable way for dealing with this issue which makes such a big impact on eCommerce companies. So, without further ado, let’s get into the ins and outs of what has made PWAs so useful for eCommerce.

1. API For Logging In 

Signing in is one of those necessary but annoying and, often flawed, parts to managing your life online. Security is of vital importance, but the current sign in metric doesn’t reflect the fast-paced and slick technological developments of today. When people need to be signed in to achieve something with my site, I always used to be frustrated about how things were managed and how limited I was in what I could achieve. This was until I discovered the PWA design. The PWA, in its ultra-optimized format, includes sign-in API which is an incredibly intuitive response to the otherwise quite problematic issue of constant logging in and out. By connecting the web application to the details of your smartphone’s operating system, it is able to automatically complete logins, regardless of the device being used. This is perfect for eCommerce where you don’t want to put any barriers between your customer or your potential customer and the sale that you hope them to ultimately make. Using a WPA will help optimize this tedious process and make everything a lot easier than it otherwise would be.

2. API For Payment Systems

In a similar vein to the first advantage, having payment request API is another big advantage to the WPA system. One of the other tedious areas in doing shopping through a mobile device is the process of payment. On a laptop it tends to be a bit simpler and, on top of that, there are more and more people wanting to shop through their mobile. So, with a PWA, you can have an intelligent, secure solution to the hassle of trying to type in card details whenever you want to buy something. Through Google’s software, the app can recognize card details from the CVV code, the 3 numbers on the back of the card, alone, making shopping easy and quick thus making this a perfect opportunity for eCommerce stores. 

3. Push Notifications From The Browser

Notifications have always been a valuable part of mobile apps, particularly eCommerce ones. All that eCommerce app notifications gave you in the past, shopping cart reminders, sales marketing, and all the rest are now possible with PWAs as well. A PWA can now link with an operating system to give attractively designed, unobtrusive notifications that achieve all that you could possibly want to from your eCommerce site, without needing to develop several different apps for the different app stores and rely on customers downloading your app in the first place. A smart solution to the push notification issue.

Conclusion

eCommerce companies are constantly looking for ways to secure a lead over their vast competition. The PWAs give them a perfect opportunity to put themselves ahead of the pack by cutting out all the hassle involved in Appstore development and all the limitations of website usage for smartphones. Definitely, something to look into!

Aimee Laurence is a content marketer and editor at Buy Essay. She writes about app development and shares successful content campaigns.

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