Progressive Web Apps: What They Are and Why They Matter

June 11, 2018 app, apps, ecommerce, m-commerce, mobile, mobile app, mobile apps, mobile commerce, mobile marketing, mobile site, mobile website, progressive web apps, PWA

ju.Published in Digital Commerce 360 by Internet Retailer May 28, 2018

The new hot thing… a lot of buzz…but what are Progressive Web Apps (PWA)? Are they an app? A website? The name is confusing, but the potential upside PWAs offer online retailers is becoming increasingly apparent. Conversion rates from mobile traffic continue to stagnate, while traffic grows.

In this post, I will shed some light on PWAs by explaining the problems they are trying to solve, and what they are. I will also explain why this new mobile technology toolkit has clear benefits for both consumers and merchants in an ever-increasingly mobile world.

The Problem

Online retailers have a big problem: stagnant mobile conversion rates. When Responsive Web Design (RWD) took the e-commerce world by storm five years ago, retailers happily jumped at the chance to offer a “one site for everyone” strategy. They simply reformatted their desktop sites to fit smaller screens. It sounded great! While there were sacrifices in page-load times, many online retailers welcomed the perceived simplicity and reduced workload that RWD promised.

When mobile was 20-30% of traffic, the benefits of not having to manage “another mobile site” might have made some sense. But, as mobile traffic surges past 50, 60, 70, or even 80% for some retailers? The fact that mobile and desktop are inextricably linked by RWD (as a single site) is starting to become a big pain point.

Remember, the mobile site is really just a reformatted version of the responsively built desktop site. As such, stagnated mobile conversion rates cannot even be addressed as a specific problem to solve.

The Numbers (Ouch)

Mobile page-load times (performance) remain the weak link for RWD sites. They are a primary contributing factor to poor conversion metrics. Report after report shows a direct correlation between page-load time increases and conversion rate decreases. One report showed a 27% lift in conversion rates, for each second of page load time improvement. Building a robust desktop retail experience is of course crucial. But trying to cram that same rich experience into a smartphone by simply re-formatting the pages is clearly not working.

As evidence of this fact consider that, according to a Monetate report, the US mobile conversion rate for retailers in the US was 1.54% in Q1 2017. That’s a DROP from Q4 2016, when it was 1.65%. Looking back even further to the quarterly reports between 2013 to 2017? We can see that mobile conversion rates stay stuck between 1 and 2%. Essentially, these numbers have been static and unimproved for 5+ years. In this same time period, the average percentage of global web pages rendered to mobile devices jumped from 16% in 2013 to over 50% in 2017.

Can Progressive Web Apps Fill The Void?

For an increasing number of retailers, commerce-enabled native apps offer some relief from this conversion problem. They do this by converting at a rate that is typically 4-6X higher than mobile web traffic. Apps load fast and sit on the consumer’s smartphone, always-on, on and ready to take orders. While you need to discover and download apps, they are a powerful way to drive deeper engagement with the statistically smaller percentage of users that drive the majority of a retailer’s business.

Google’s Role, Google’s Solution

Google has likely been watching the move-to-apps trend with some dismay. This is because they are not very good at indexing Apple’s “walled garden” within the app store. The more traffic and transactions occurring on native apps, the less Google knows what is happening. This impacts its ability to make advertising hay from the data it extrapolates from this web activity. For Google and their AdWords bots, iOS app-based retail interactions are like a “blind spot”.

Google is a smart company, with smart people working for them. So, in 2015, Google saw its trend toward apps coming and introduced a solution to the mobile website conversion problem. They called them Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). This is an odd choice in a name since this is really a toolkit for increasing browser-based mobile site performance by mimicking on-device caching of data. (Why they put the word “apps” in the name is beyond me… but I digress).

Progressive Web Apps Are Not Apps

Despite the word “app” on the name, PWAs are not apps. They are a methodology. A set of guidelines. A toolkit. A list of rules to follow for developers. They allow them to build and render mobile sites in ways that significantly improve their page load times/performance. They do this by merging the best of what apps offer (speed) and the best of the mobile web. (Easy access by anyone). And, because the PWA “shell” is separated from the content that is served within it, the experience just “feels” more app-like. It’s on-device, fast, and removed the “disconnect” that slow page load speeds can impart.

The Need For Speed: Caching and Service Workers

Google launched PWAs by using its Android operating system as a sort of Trojan Horse. They did this by adding something called Service Workers to it. Service Workers are pieces of code (Javascript files) that are built into the operating system. They facilitate the input of data from one API (in this case the retail e-commerce platform) and another API. Then store (cache) that data separately, on the device.

The reason this has a massive impact on performance is that the data used to render the mobile commerce experience does not need to be called up each time. It is already there, cached/stored on the phone, so page load times are nearly instantaneous. Remember that statistic about each second of page load time being linked to a 27% increase in conversion rates…?

Web-Based Push

Another benefit of PWAs is that they mimic one of the big native app differentiators: push notifications. Again, since the “shell” of the PWA is “downloaded” and stored on the user’s home screen, like a native app, a retailer can send messages that pop up. But only to customers who choose to add the icon to their phone. Since it’s likely that this message is going to a very dedicated customer, it is also highly likely they will act upon that call to action in the message and buy something. This helps drive increased conversion rates.

Compliance Measurement and the “SEO Carrot”

Google has wisely created a tool for measuring PWA compliance called Lighthouse. They are pushing the advantages of compliance while continuing to educate the developer community and court big retailers.

Google has a seriously valuable carrot to dangle for retailers considering adopting the PWA standards. They can promise preferential SEO page rank. Reaping the rewards of turbo-charging their Google page rank might be reason alone to move to a PWA (regarding ROI) for some.

Adoption: Slow Start, But Apple Finally On-Board

For a while, Google and its Android OS were alone in supporting Service Workers. But, as developers started using the PWA toolkit and seeing results, a lot of pressure was put on Apple. Finally, they introduced support for Service Workers in its latest iOS version release. Translation: PWAs (and the Service Workers so key to their advantage) now work on iPhones! For many retailers we work with, this was cited as a reason they were staying in wait-and-see mode on PWAs.

While Google is getting some PWA traction among content-serving websites, retailers in the US have been slow to jump on board. Even with Apple supporting Service Workers, many retailers are so deeply entrenched with their (slow on mobile) RWD sites. The notion of going “back to the future” and launching a dedicated “m-dot” site causes them angst.

Currently, there are only a few US retailers with live PWA mobile sites. One worth mentioning is Lancôme. We currently have several large PWA projects underway and are starting to get requests for more information. If a PWA is on your radar or if you have questions, please reach out.

Conclusions

A PWA is a powerful new solution to poor performance. Retailers should be researching and considering them, in direct proportion to their awareness that having a poor (and static) mobile traffic conversion rate is not sustainable in the face of ever-increasing mobile traffic numbers.

I should probably note here that PWAs are not just for mobile. They can improve desktop site performance too. But, for retailers, mobile is where the pain point is. As such, that is where PWAs have the most potential to move the bar.

For mobile shoppers, It’s solely an upside. As they will still browse retail websites. When they do, they will experience nearly instantaneous page loads. Not to mention, have the ability to “download” or pin an icon to their device’s home screen, like an app. If they choose to, they can receive special web-served offers that pop-up on their smartphone, just like native in-app push notifications. But, importantly, they never had to go to an app store and download a native app to their phone.

For merchants with repeat buyers and a dedicated customer base, PWAs offer a powerful new way to deliver a browser-based mobile experience. One that offers the speed of an app and will boost their Google SEO page rank. Even if a plan to build and launch a native app is in place, it’s time to think about treating mobile browser traffic as unique and worthy of an experience that can finally move the needle and improve long-stagnant conversion rates.

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To learn more about PWAs and/or to discuss how progressive web apps can help you increase mobile page-load times and lift mobile conversions, please reach out to Wilson Kerr via [email protected] or click here.

Customer Success at Unbound Commerce

February 2, 2017 app, apps, Customer Success, ecommerce, FitMama, m-commerce, mobile, mobile app, mobile apps, mobile commerce, mobile marketing, mobile site, Unbound, Unbound Commerce

The best part of our job at Unbound is seeing our customers having astounding success with the mobile solutions we did together.

FitMama, a fitness apparel retailer, deployed a new mobile app for their customers. Unbound Commerce designed the app to not simply sell clothing but to help promote the healthy lifestyle that customers associate with FitMama. The merchant targeted their top customers to download the app. Within 4 months, 35% of FitMama’s total sales were coming through the app. Not all retailers are the perfect fit for a mobile app. But for those who have, or want to cultivate a loyal and engaged customer base, apps can be a breakthrough. According to Erika Boom, Owner, FitMama Apparel, “The combination of push notifications with one-touch checkout makes this a killer app for us. It’s a great way for Unbound to engage our loyal customers. And it makes it super easy for them to buy from us.”

Sports Unlimited struggled with a low conversion rate on mobile. As their mobile traffic grew, the problem became acute. Since they started working with Unbound, the retailer has seen dramatic results. “Since we’ve deployed our mobile site, not only have visitors greatly increased. But mobile conversion rates have gone up 500% and AOV increased by 27%,” according to Mike Neff, e-commerce director. Reflecting after the project, Neff commented: “It’s been really easy. It’s clear that Unbound has done all the leg work for us. This is one of the easiest e-commerce initiatives we’ve ever done.”

Consult with one of our product experts at Unbound to see what your numbers could be.

Understanding The “Mobile Commerce Gap”: 5 Things Every Online Retailer Should Know

April 6, 2015 app, apps, ecommerce, gap, m-commerce, mcommerce, mobile, mobile app, mobile apps, mobile commerce, mobile commerce gap, mobile marketing, mobile site

THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED IN 2011 BUT REMAINS RELEVANT TODAY. The numbers projected in this post have virtually ALL been exceeded. Some, by a wide margin. It’s exceptionally important to understand the Mobile Commerce Gap.

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From May 24, 2011, by Wilson Kerr.

Understanding the “Mobile Commerce Gap”: 5 Things Every Online Retailer Should Know

Sometime this year, 50% of Americans will own a web-connected smartphone. Yet less than 20% of online retailers optimize their websites and format them to serve these mobile consumers.

I am calling this the “mobile commerce gap”. The reason for the mobile commerce gap, this inequity between demand and supply, in my opinion, is because the internal resources required for online retailers to properly develop a mobile commerce site have been pulled in other directions, even as smartphone adoption rates have exploded. As a result, a majority of online retailers are offering their mobile customers a very poor online shopping experience. This, in turn, results in poor conversion rates and missed sales. Not to mention the fact that consumers are left with the general impression that the retail brand is not serving their needs.

Think about it. How many times do you visit a site on your smartphone and immediately leave when you see it is not optimized for mobile? According to Google, this happens 79% of the time! That’s the mobile commerce gap.

Why this Gap?

The first distraction came in 2009 when retailers and brands alike were told they must “drop everything and build an iPhone app”. While apps are great for some things, a vast array of surveys and studies have concluded that consumers much prefer a mobile site over an app for commerce. The second was the social media craze of last year, as Facebook, Twitter, and the rest dominated headlines and became “must-haves”. Both soaked up internal IT resources and distracted online retailers from building the mobile-optimized sites needed to serve their increasingly mobile customers.

So, what are the factors online retailers should consider, as they investigate offering their customers the ability to convert sales from their mobile devices via a mobile commerce site? I hope the following 5 points will clear some things up:

1) There is No “Mobile Web”

While it is true that most “standard” websites are capable of being viewed on a web-enabled phone, few consumers are willing to “pinch and zoom” their way into a converted sale on a standard site jammed into a small screen. Ever tried this? It’s not fun.

While the need for mobile-optimized sites might seem obvious, many retailers justify not investing in mobile commerce by citing low mobile-originating traffic to their current site (usually 2-5%). Of course, the fact that mobile customers seldom return to a site after such a poor user experience greets them causes this low-traffic negative feedback loop. The retailer then concludes there is no need to invest in the “mobile web”. Again, there is no “mobile web”. There is only the web, that you view on a mobile device.

2) Mobile Commerce is NOT Mobile Payments

There is a lot of “noise” right now regarding mobile payments at the point of sale when the phone is used as a “mobile wallet” to pay for coffee and the like. While mobile payments might well emerge as an issue retailers need to address, this is not the same as mobile commerce. Mobile payments involve banks, credit cards, investments in point-of-sale infrastructure, coupons, NFC, loyalty cards, and a whole array of complex issues.

Mobile commerce is simply the act of ordering something online, from your mobile phone, via a mobile-optimized version of a website. Retailers should not confuse the two, or delay the launch of a mobile commerce site while trying to understand mobile payment options and what uniform technology may or may not emerge victorious.

3) Mobile Commerce “Actualizes” Mobile Marketing

Remember, every time a consumer clicks on a marketing or advertising link to your website on their mobile phone, they should land on a site that is optimized for the device they are accessing that message on. Whether a tweet, a Facebook post, a banner ad, a QR code, an SMS message, or an email. The mobile consumer who acts upon the message should be able to convert that action easily into a sale, via a mobile commerce site. If you are a retailer and do not have a mobile commerce site and are spending money on social media marketing or mobile advertising? You are likely paying to promote links to a very poor customer experience.

4) Integrate, Don’t Duplicate

There are several options for creating a mobile commerce site. You could use a transcoder to “screen scrape” your standard website and shrink it to fit a mobile screen. One method is, that you could “sub-out” your mobile commerce efforts to a third party. You could do this by letting them “handle it” with their own separate and duplicative mobile store. You could also leverage and extend your current, proven, and trusted e-commerce operations into mobile via an integrated solution.
This is a superior approach, in my opinion, as it means you are avoiding duplication. You do so while also maintaining full in-house control and fueling mobile commerce from the same infrastructure you trust today for your e-commerce operations. A software-based integration approach takes a bit more effort on the front side, but the long-term benefits are significant, as this single effort if done properly, can serve as the foundation for not only mobile commerce but also Facebook commerce and commerce-enabled iPhone and Android apps, as needed.

5) Devote IT Resources, Plan For Growth

The single biggest reason I hear retailers give for not moving on mobile commerce is a lack of IT resources. Simply put, this is a poor excuse. While it may be true that IT is backed up, the measurable, tracked ROI that mobile commerce offers should elevate this to the top of the list. The ROI is extremely rapid, by even the most conservative estimates of the resulting tracked, incremental mobile commerce sales. Retailers and brands that are out ahead of the curve will be the biggest winners. As long as they plan for growth and choose the right approach.

Compelling Numbers

Still not convinced that mobile commerce is a “must have”? In recent weeks Google and other mobile marketing players have begun encouraging retailers to sit up and take notice of this gap. They can’t sell online retailers mobile marketing campaigns if they have no place for the target audience to “land” when they click through a mobile campaign ad/link.

Google and others are pointing to studies and reports that contain numbers that are hard to ignore. Here is a sampling:

$1.9 Billion: Worldwide online mobile sales in 2009.
$23.8 Billion: Expected worldwide online mobile sales in 2015.
61%: The percentage of mobile users unlikely to return to a site not optimized for mobile.
79%: The percentage of Google retailer advertisers who DO NOT have a mobile site.
78%: The percentage of consumers who prefer a mobile site over an app.
62%: The percentage of smartphone owners who have purchased physical goods via their phone in the last 6 months.
2-5%: The typical percentage of mobile traffic coming to a non-optimized retail website.
5X: The typical increase in conversion rates, upon the launch of a mobile commerce
Sources: Adobe-Mobile Shopper Insights, Google, eMarketer, Shop.org, Coda Research, Unbound Commerce.

The Time To Fix the Gap Is Now

Your customers are mobile and they are very likely trying to access your site on their smartphones right now. If they still see your “standard” e-commerce site crammed onto a small screen? You are delivering a poor customer experience and, as such, miss out on incremental mobile sales. Try it yourself!

Some experts expect mobile commerce to grow to become as much as 10-15% of online sales. Retailers should weigh the risks of launching a solution that their current operations have yet to integrate with. What might not be a problem at first could emerge as a big issue when mobile commerce makes up a significant percentage of online sales. Find the resources. Take the time, and consider building/launching a mobile site ASAP that leverages and extends current online sales operations.

You will provide consumers with a positive mobile interaction with your brand that also drives significant incremental, tracked revenue. Mobile commerce is here and the time to take advantage via a mobile commerce site is now!

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Wilson Kerr (@WLLK) is a former Tele Atlas exec and LBS consultant. He now leads Sales and Business Development for Unbound Commerce.

Contact him today to learn more. [email protected] Boston Mobile: 303-249-2083.

6 Keys For A Successful Mobile Commerce App

February 10, 2015 app, apps, ecommerce, key, Keys, m-commerce, mobile, mobile app, mobile apps, mobile commerce, mobile site

6 Keys For A Successful Mobile Commerce App

Mobile commerce is red hot and growing in importance by the day. If you are an online retailer and don’t already have a mobile strategy then you’d best get to planning! Learn about the 6 Keys for a Successful Mobile Commerce App.

While a well-designed mobile or responsive website is an important component of a mobile strategy, native apps also play an important role and excel at driving user engagement, increasing repeat visits from loyal customers, and maximizing cart conversion. For this reason, leading online retailers already have or are busy developing native mobile apps (i.e. – iPhone, iPad, and Android apps).

Following are 6 keys to success that I have accumulated here at Apptive while helping hundreds of online merchants create, deploy, and manage mobile commerce apps for their stores.

I hope you can draw on these keys to manage a successful project should you decide to make a native app part of your online store’s mobile strategy.

The 6 Keys.

Key #1: Work with a company or app developer that specializes in eCommerce.

eCommerce has unique requirements, particularly when it comes to apps and mobile. Consequently, you want to find a developer with mobile commerce UI/UX experience, mobile performance expertise, and most importantly eCommerce backend integration capabilities.

Key #2: Think about life after your app is live.

Developing your app is just half the battle. Who will update and maintain your app moving forward? When Apple releases a new version of iOS? Or when you need to make a content update? When you think up a snazzy new feature? If your developer disappears after your initial engagement, you’re stuck. Also, you don’t want to be entirely dependent on your developer – having some degree of self-management capability is ideal.

Key #3: Look for a solution that provides portability between eCommerce platforms.

You may decide to switch platforms at some point down the road. Make sure your app solution is portable between platforms. As a result, failure to do so could lead you to be faced with a roadblock in making a switch. At the very least it could leave you facing an unexpected development bill to make your app function with a new platform.

Key #4: Analytics.

You need a way to track engagement and usage built into your app from the start. You have to know how many customers download your app. Understand how customers use this new channel. Know what adjustments need to be made, etc. Just like your website, without analytics, you fly blind.

Keys #5: Include native-specific features.

Just having an app for the app’s sake will only lead to short-term gains, if any. Including native-specific features like push notifications and a native user interface will help drive user engagement. Ultimately this will improve conversion within your app.

Keys #6: Give customers an incentive to download your app.

The value of your app increases proportionately with the number of people you get to download it. You will promote your awesome new app to your existing site visitors, customers, and social media followers. These are folks who already are loyal or have familiarity with your brand. But giving them a little extra incentive to download your app, such as app-only coupons will get you more downloads and will pay dividends far into the future.

With Mobile Apps, If You’re Not First You’re Last

July 30, 2013 app, competitor, download, e-commerce, m-commerce

We’ve spoken before about the fact that mobile apps are quickly catching on for businesses of all types, but we’ve also relayed the fact that you can get in on the front end of the M-commerce trend. Now we can see that moving quickly to establish a mobile presence quickly is paramount if you want to yield maximum results from your mobile apps.

A recent study reported that, while users are eager to use app functionality, they rarely allow existing apps to be displaced by newer ones regardless of marketing. In layman’s terms, it means that if you do not deliver what a customer is seeking first, they are not particularly likely to download your app later.

Of course, much of this is dependent upon your business. If you are an E-commerce store then obviously there is not going to be an app exactly like yours. However, do consider that if a customer does find a similar app they are not going to have much of an incentive to try something new. That applies equally well to tacos or shoes.

One more thing to consider. Once you have your app, you should do a good job engaging with your customers with regular content, messages, etc. Particularly if you manage to take over a certain niche first, you can quickly build up a powerful connection and keep them from straying over to a competitor once they inevitably go mobile!

Plus, with great power comes great responsibility and all that.

Mobile Apps for Ecommerce

June 14, 2013 app, ecommerce, m-commerce, mobile, mobile commerce

Apptive CEO Chris Belew discusses the rise in mobile Ecommerce and how store owners can take advantage with a mobile app!