Can progressive web apps solve the app vs. browser dilemma?

Can progressive web apps solve the app vs. browser dilemma?

Robert Williams

Through a special arrangement, what follows is an excerpt of an article from Retail Dive, an e-newsletter and website providing a 60-second bird’s eye view of the latest retail news and trends.

Mobile app or mobile web? While the debate has been discussed for years, an emerging solution brings many of the advantages of native mobile apps to the mobile browser.

Progressive web apps (PWAs) are an open-source initiative driven by Google that uses modern web capabilities to deliver app-like experiences to users, promising a better experience than either native apps or the mobile web.

“PWAs represent a seismic advancement in the web, similar in magnitude to the transition five years ago in responsive web design,” Peter Sheldon, VP of strategy at Magento Commerce, a provider of an open-source e-commerce platform, told Mobile Marketer.

PWAs have several advantages for shoppers, starting with faster browsing. They are instantly discoverable within a browser without the need to download an app, and work in areas where there are poor network conditions. They can be “saved” to the home screen, at least on Android devices, for easier access and a personalized engagement channel. They also allow for rapid repeat access without the need to open the browser and type in a web address.

“Well-designed PWAs have speeds that are four times faster than other mobile sites and are friction-free, so customers stay engaged, and can speed through checkout to buy a product with just a few taps,” said Igor Faletski, CEO of progressive web app provider Mobify.

For marketers, PWAs support push notifications in the browser to help drive mobile conversion rates while also alleviating the high investment costs associated with developing native apps.

On the downside, because the framework is still relatively new, PWAs are not supported by all browsers, nor does the framework support some of the features that make native apps so appealing to consumers, like the camera, GPS and fingerprint scanners.

Marketers may face challenges getting users to find their PWAS and trust them since they don’t require an app store. At this point, many third-party applications, such as Facebook and Google, will require an individual login to work each time for users.

But many of those issues may get resolved if PWAs gain wider acceptance and as the technology improves.

BrainTrust

"It will likely all come down to performance."

Lee Kent

Principal, Your Retail Authority, LLC


"The debate really shouldn’t be about app vs mobile browser. If we take this from a customer-centric viewpoint it’s all about utility..."

Ricardo Belmar

Retail Transformation Thought Leader, Advisor, & Strategist


"PWAs may be the future, but first they need to reach across all platforms, ease or eliminate the log-in process and guarantee security."

Max Goldberg

President, Max Goldberg & Associates


Discussion Questions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Will progressive web apps (PWAs) replace mobile apps for retailers? Do PWAs appear to solve many of the challenges of native mobile apps as an engagement tool for retailers? Any concerns?

Poll

19 Comments
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Bob Amster
Trusted Member
6 years ago

I am not hugely familiar with PWAs, but it reads to me like SaaS by a different name and for a mobile browser. If so it will gain popularity, acceptance and actual use.

Max Goldberg
6 years ago

Regardless of screen size or access point, retailers need to make their offerings in e-commerce easy to find, quick to load and fast to buy. Anything less than that potentially alienates consumers. PWAs may be the future, but first they need to reach across all platforms, ease or eliminate the log-in process and guarantee security.

Jason Grigsby
Jason Grigsby
Reply to  Max Goldberg
6 years ago

“…retailers need to make their offerings in e-commerce easy to find, quick to load and fast to buy.”

These are basically all of the selling points of a PWA. They enhance an existing website which means they run on any browser with nothing to install. The trojan horse for PWAs is performance improvements. And if you add payment request API support, you can buy things with a fingerprint.

Lee Kent
Lee Kent
Member
6 years ago

It will likely all come down to performance. In either case, the consumer will have to want to access the app which still puts the onus on marketing to position it and make it easy to find and use. I can’t speak to the security issues but of course that would be a big concern. For my 2 cents.

Joel Rubinson
Member
6 years ago

There is a fundamental difference between apps and mobile web that is not acknowledged by this article. Apps are downloaded ahead of time because you plan to use them. That means the retailer is already on your “short-list.” When you search, you are looking for what you do not yet know about. Hence mobile web is about discovery and apps are about convenience. Mobile web is about building reach and apps are about building customer value. Apples and oranges really.

Cate Trotter
Member
6 years ago

It’ll come down to execution. It’s well documented that most people only use a handful of apps that they download, and of those they spend most of their time in just a couple. If there’s a sensible way to bypass the need to open a dedicated app, but still get the same value from it then I think the uptake will be good. Of course issues around logins, etc. might hamper it to begin with.

Neil Saunders
Famed Member
6 years ago

For retail, the big problem with apps is that only your most loyal customers will download and regularly use them. That dilutes the return on investment and also potentially leaves non-users with an inferior, slower experience via a traditional browser. PWAs are the solution to this. They allow retailers to deliver an app-like experience without the need for an app.

Despite this, I can’t see retailers abandoning apps just yet. They will, for the time being, become part of the mix of different ways to reach customers.

Jason Grigsby
Jason Grigsby
Reply to  Neil Saunders
6 years ago

Yes. The native apps versus progressive web app debate is overblown. Every site should be a progressive web app because at the simplest, PWAs are three things:

  • A secure server (HTTPS) — every site should do this because secure browsing matters
  • Use service worker tech to make the site faster — every site should do this faster experiences increase revenue and conversion
  • Provide a manifest file that points at icons — every site should do this because the icons are used for bookmarks

Do those three things and you’ve got a PWA even if you never encourage people to “install” the PWA. And those three things make sense even if you have a native app because not all of your customers or potential customers will have your native app.

The native vs. web stuff is a needless distraction from making good business decisions on meeting customers where they are.

Cynthia Holcomb
Member
6 years ago

Back to the Future. From web experience to mobile app experience to moblie web experience to PWA’s high-touch experience of shopping the live web, rather than shopping the web through the filter of a mobile app.

Harley Feldman
Harley Feldman
6 years ago

PWAs are easier to develop, can be done so more quickly and they require less development expertise. This means that retailers can bring a PWA to consumers more quickly and adjust them according to consumer feedback more easily. PWAs will not replace native apps as native apps can be more robust and tied more directly to a hardware platform taking advantage of hardware-provided features like GPS and NFC. Expect to see more PWAs as retailers desire to bring more mobile apps to consumers quickly.

Ken Morris
Trusted Member
6 years ago

As progressive web apps (PWAs) “progress” to include more robust features, they may eventually replace native mobile apps. However, today, they have different strengths and weaknesses.

PWAs are less expensive to deploy and are faster and more frictionless for consumers to access than native web apps. However, native mobile apps have some advanced features that are not currently available on PWAs, such as: GEO-fencing, NFC support, camera capabilities, and connectivity with other apps like Facebook.

Which approach is best for a retailer depends on their customer base and how committed they are to the brand. Many retailers may opt to offer both options. For loyal customers, they may want a native app that consumers are willing to download and use and for a broader reach, PWAs may be the best option. Different strokes for different folks.

Over time I do believe this technology will be ubiquitous but the PWA market has to mature before that will happen.

Doug Garnett
Active Member
6 years ago

PWAs offer tremendous consumer value — and that’s why they are important. Let’s be honest: how effective are most retailer apps? Most of us would really rather just have good, effective access to the retailer website. AND, most retailers would rather focus on getting their website/PWA right rather than maintain an entirely different software setup just for mobile.

So I thoroughly endorse this as the future — especially for retail.

That said, PWAs still suffer when only a subset of desktop website functionality is delivered. It can be infuriating to try something and only have it work in part.

I have used the ability to save a link that appears to be an app. But, for me that really hasn’t been important functionality. History and bookmarks achieve the same with better functionality.

Shep Hyken
Active Member
6 years ago

The experience the customer has on the app, regardless of it being mobile, desktop, etc., should be consistent with the experience the retailer wants the customer to have on any and every channel. Anything less creates inconsistency and can erode confidence.

Kai Clarke
Kai Clarke
Active Member
6 years ago

PWAs are a dynamic step for retailers as they seek to solve many of the user issues of engaging consumers, and building a retail solution for the online marketplace. Faster, more dynamic and flexible are very important keys for PWAs in our interconnected world. How they are applied is just as important in this dynamic as well.

Ralph Jacobson
Member
6 years ago

This is called, “evolution.” It was only a matter of time for this to come to light. I suspect this will eventually be the norm. It’s a pain in the neck to currently have to download a million apps on your devices. This can only help.

Karolyn Hart
6 years ago

PWAs absolutely solve a number of problems for retailers at a fraction of the cost. The first major retailer to convert away from native to this solution was Flipkart in 2016 (one of India’s largest retailers). Within months they had 5X the engagement. That same year Patagonia made the jump to PWA and retired their native app. There are numerous case studies available. This last summer, tech giants (Instagram and Twitter) started to make the jump.

In December 2017, Apple made the announcement they were going to ban templated-app-services. The industry reacted negatively so they “softened” the wording, but it’s very clear in their regulations. If you can do it through the mobile web, then it doesn’t need to be in their app store.

PWAs work on all devices, they offer push notifications, they provide content in airplane mode, and offer instant payments.

The digital shift has already arrived. The biggest retailers are already reaping the benefits. The small retailers won’t likely have access to the app store anymore.

The cheese has moved and hopefully retailers will recognize that, before they are left completely behind.

Ricardo Belmar
Active Member
6 years ago

The debate really shouldn’t be about app vs mobile browser. If we take this from a customer-centric viewpoint it’s all about utility — how useful the functionality provided to the retail customer is. A couple of years ago, I hosted a panel discussion on building successful mobile apps for retailers and restaurants at a mobility conference. While the discussion started out about app vs browser, it quickly turned to more important questions about functionality and usability. Ultimately, the question became “who are you targeting with the app/browser?”

Retailers like to create an app that ALL customers will want to use and then promote it as such. But who are the real adopters? It’s their most loyal customers who love the brand enough to give them real estate on their smartphone screen. If you know that to be true, then you should target functionality that serves that loyal customer versus the occasional customer. Relegating those loyal customers to mobile web browser instead of app typically doesn’t provide the desired experience. If PWAs can deliver on that point as effectively as a native app, then they might make a difference and gain acceptance.

The flipside of this that’s also often forgotten is the impact and support of developers. Mobile app development has created significant skill sets and most organizations want to continue to leverage those skills versus focusing on mobile web development.

Alan Kent
Alan Kent
6 years ago

To correct one comment, PWA is not SaaS. PWA is the logical forward movement of web technology best practices (irrespective of the backend). As more APIs open up in web browsers, the smaller the benefits of native apps. (E.g. NFC, geofencing, etc — if its not a web API already, it will be soon). A PWA will work on all web browsers immediately, but will work better on browsers with more APIs supported. It’s also important to realize the “A” in “PWA” is app — they can be installed on your device just like a native app, just much much faster (smaller download). So the friction of a user deciding to install an app goes away. And you only have to build it once. PWAs are going to be big.

Jason Grigsby
Jason Grigsby
6 years ago

Hi all! I writing a book on progressive web apps for designer, product managers and execs. I also maintain PWAstats.com. I stumbled across this article in my Google alerts that I’m using for research. I thought I would offer a few clarifications and see if I can answer some questions.

First, the articles points to the following downsides of progressive web apps, “PWAs are not supported by all browsers, nor does the framework support some of the features that make native apps so appealing to consumers, like the camera, GPS and fingerprint scanners.”

Let’s take each of these separately.

First, progressive web apps are built using progressive enhancement which is a model for building for the web that ensures that every browser has some experience. Browsers with more advantaged features get a better experience. This means that if your progressive web app is built right, it will work in every browser, but some browsers will work better than others. Plus, every browser is working on PWA features. Microsoft will ship with the next Edge release. Apple has the tech in their current preview version of Safari.

Plus, early adopters of PWAs have seen increases in conversion even in browsers that don’t support all PWA features. I wrote more about this last summer before Safari announced it would add PWA tech.

Browsers can access the camera. Instagram is doing it in their PWA, including some nice background uploading.

GPS has been accessible in the browser since around 2009. I have no idea why that is listed as something PWAs can’t do.

Depending on what you want to do with fingerprints and on what device, you may be able to access fingerprints. Samsung, Apple and other device makers who have provided faster web payment APIs are supporting fingerprint approval of those transactions.

To be clear, there are device specific features that the browser doesn’t have access to (e.g., HealthKit, HomeKit, etc) or don’t have broad support (Bluetooth, NFC), but the examples given may not be the best to make the point.

FWIW, I wrote an article with six simple arguments for why progressive web apps simply make sense for most companies that make money on the web. It’s been Alex Russell’s, the person who coined the phrase progressive web apps, pinned tweet since I wrote it last year. You might find it useful.

I’ll take a quick look at the comments to see if I can clarify anything else. Then I need to stop procrastinating and get back to book writing.