With the regular and rapid increase in mobile users, companies and enterprises are looking for opportunities to position themselves in this evolving market. The usage of mobile applications is increasing sharply, thereby allowing businesses to work on developing mobile applications that can present their brand as well as enhance their business operations. Technological advancement contributes to this and adds a layer of high-end experience for businesses opting to move forward with this.
Many companies are surfacing by offering an intuitive, accessible, and engaging app experience to all their customers across the globe. Business owners and entrepreneurs are emerging with web applications to deliver a powerful online store experience to their target audience. These web applications cater to simple needs like finding a restaurant, doorstep delivery of medicines, online entertainment shows, booking a cab or medical appointments, etc.
There are various types of web applications that serve different purposes as well as deliver different experiences and functionalities to your customers. There are regular web applications and progressive web applications (PWA) that are able to reach the next level of the business frontier. But what makes PWA so special and how is it different from regular web applications? Let’s learn in detail about how progressive web applications contribute to eCommerce and enhance your business workflow. Moreover, what separates a regular web app and PWA, and which type of web application is more suitable for your business venture?
A regular web application in simple terms is a very simple website whose content can fill up on any screen size. To be precise, it can be accessed on all mobile devices and fits into the screen size of the device on which it is opened. Any regular web application is developed using different stacks of web technologies like for front-end- HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and for backend- PHP, Ruby, Python, etc. The benefit of using web applications is that it operates through web browsers too. It offers multiple functionalities which operate according to the browser that is being used by the user like Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla, Firefox, Bing, etc. Additionally, it also offers native device features and functionalities that may be indifferent to the type of web browsers used. There are multiple types of web applications that we across like-
Progressive web applications or PWAs basically revolve around the idea of a regular web application but has some enhanced functionalities. Though progressive web application is a type of regular web app which aims at delivering a high-end user experience. This type of web application seamlessly blends both the platform’s experience of desktops and mobile applications together to deliver excellent results to the end-users. Moreover, this is the main reason for its huge demand in the digital world and in the emerging eCommerce industry.
The term ‘progressive web application’ was actually coined by a Google Chrome engineer- Alex Russell. Progressive web applications (PWAs) use similar front-end and back-end stacks of web technologies of a regular web application like HTML, JavaScript, CSS, PHP, Ruby, Python, etc. Additionally, it also uses frameworks like AngularJs, ReactJS, VueJS, etc, and other latest technologies to provide a reliable, fast, and engaging user experience.
Now, let’s highlight some key differences between a regular web application and a progressive web application. Moreover, how PWAs are refining the way of online business through their powerful functionalities and features.
Though progressive web applications come under the purview of regular web applications, both have major differences in how they work. Though the basic fundamentals of both regular web applications and progressive web applications are the same, but there are major underlying differences in their functionality and approach. Given below is the list of key points where regular web applications and PWAs work differently and offer a different digital experience to the end users.
Let’s discuss which are the key areas that separate a regular web application from a progressive web application.
A regular web application cannot be installed easily on your mobile device. Moreover, when there is no internet connection or you have low connectivity, regular web applications cannot be accessed offline unlike PWAs.
Whereas, you can easily install a progressive web application on any device you want easily. It makes the installation process much easier by cutting down all the steps leading to installation and use. It also does not take much time to download and install on the device. Moreover, PWAs do not take up much space on your device. They are easily shareable and can be downloaded through the link (URL). You can even keep the app icon of the progressive web app on your home screen to access it quickly whenever you want. This way your business progressive web app has a better chance of user interaction and engagement.
Though when it comes to the ‘look and feel’ of regular web applications and progressive web applications, there is hardly any difference for a general audience. But regular web applications cannot use most of the native features of the device and basically relies on the web browsers so that it is accessed through to function to their potential. Regular web apps can be operated through web browsers but the functionalities differ from browser to browser.
On the other hand, progressive web applications run on different front-end and back-end technologies (like HTML, JavaScript, PHP, CSS, etc) and use various frameworks to deliver the end-users an integrated, seamless, and high-end experience. This happens because of the enhanced functionalities of PWAs to use the majority of the native device features like push notifications, better UI, fast and responsive software, etc without relying on web browsers.
Progressive web applications usually cache all the data and help speed up the process of loading the contents automatically. Moreover, the caching of data enables to serve text stylesheets, imagery, etc to the end users even before the page loads completely. This functionality of PWAs reduces the waiting time of the users and processes requests faster. Even if the network is unavailable, PWAs allow cached data to be shown to the users. Overall, the user experience, user engagement, and retention rates improve exponentially, thereby adding value to your online business.
Progressive web applications can employ various native device functionalities and features to make the user experience interesting and efficient. Explicitly, for progressive web applications, the interaction between your application and the end-user does not depend on what kind of web browser the user is using. Therefore, it improves the chances to notify the end users regarding your services and offers of your brand. This way you can always keep your target audience engaged with your web app and maintain an equitable brand presence.
Progressive web applications have the potential to update on their own, unlike regular web applications. It does not require you to go to the App Store or any other such platform to download the update and wait until it is installed. In this type of application, what happens is that web app developers push the live update from the server which then automatically reaches the progressive web application residing on the end user’s device. Hence, your PWA gets updated hassle-free without pushing the end-users to do it manually.
Progressive web applications or PWAs reside in the web browsers of the end-users device. This functionality of PWAs portrays that your application has a higher chance of optimizing as per the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) guidelines. Therefore, your progressive web app can enjoy higher search engine rankings, unlike other regular web applications.
Regular web applications need to be submitted to any App Store (Android or iOS) for them to be downloaded and work effectively offering the same set of functionalities as progressive web applications. For this process, the cost of developing regular web applications increases and makes it an unlikely choice for businesses to use.
Whereas, a progressive web application acts like a native web application as it can be installed on the user’s device hassle-free. But the key point of difference between other regular web applications and progressive web applications is that it does not demand any kind of submission on any App Store. This reduces the progressive web application development cost and makes it a far more cost-effective approach for business owners and enterprises. Eventually, it makes an ideal choice for enterprises to enter the market and enjoy a higher ROI.
Progressive web application or PWA comes under the umbrella of regular web applications but has powerful functionalities and offers a high-end user experience. That is why eCommerce businesses and brands online focus more on PWAs as their first choice for web app development. Most business owners and enterprises choose progressive web apps because of the following reasons-
From this blog, we can understand that progressive web applications have a broad market scope and are very profitable for businesses to launch.
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