Have you ever wondered what the next biggest web development trend is? Since 2015, the web community has been buzzing around progressive web apps. Such websites look and feel like native apps while operating inside regular browsers.
It became easier to convert any website into a PWA with the advent of progressive frameworks such as React, Vue.js, Angular.js, etc. And we believe that as of today, building Magento PWA apps is the most promising way to invest in business growth.
We’ve created this guide to show you how these “semi-native apps” look like. If you are still in two minds about whether to build a progressive app or put it aside, this read will help you make a choice. Browse these 27 PWA examples that will inspire you to get your own.
| 1. Bright Star Kids
2. AliExpress 3. Tinder 4. Yummly 5. Petlove 6. Uber 7. Pinterest 8. Letgo |
10. Housing.com
11. Spotify PWA 12. Treebo 13. Garbarino 14. Kopa (PadPiper) 15. Google Maps 16. Snapdeal 17. Flipkart 18. Konga |
19. Jumia
20. 5Miles 21. Forbes 22. OnTheMarket 23. Noon 24. Debenhams 26. OpenSooq 27. Trivago |
27 Examples of Outstanding PWAs
Our Hall of Fame is full of incredible examples of progressive web apps. Recently, we’ve talked about the stand-out PWA samples in the eCommerce sector. Now it’s time to delve into other spheres to convince you that progressive web apps can be your new sales driver.
1. Bright Star Kids
The first progressive web app example that opens the list is the online store we’ve created here at Onilab.
Bright Star Kids is an Australian company that offers a wide range of customizable products. Users can create a personalized design for the items (bags, clothes, coasters, notepads, etc.) and order them with the chosen unique prints.
Bright Star Kids opted for headless Magento and decided to build a PWA. They needed a fast and cutting-edge solution to cope with the constantly increasing demand. Besides, a personalized product builder was among the challenges their new application had to overcome.
Look at the screenshots above showing how users can create their design for a child’s backpack. The customer can select a label’s design, choose a font, color, etc. However, the most significant part is its blazingly fast speed due to the GraphQL use with Magento 2 on the back-end.
If you like this progressive web app example and want to build the same for your online store, turn to our Magento PWA development services for an enhanced UX/UI and native app-like look. Feel free to browse more examples of Magento PWAs for some inspiration.
2. AliExpress
Among the top web apps that have caught our eye is that of AliExpress. Why is it so popular? It’s known for one awesome feature: product suggestions.
Have you ever wondered why you can’t leave AliExpress without a purchase? It occurs because the company’s focus is centered around making you browse, read, and buy. They invest so many resources into keeping you inside this loop that it becomes virtually impossible to leave empty-handed.
One of the main reasons Aliexpress built a PWA was a desire to provide a great user experience across all browsers. And this investment paid off over and above.
What is the result?
- The conversion rate to new users increased by 104%;
- conversions on the Safari browser boosted to 82%;
- users visit twice as many pages per session and spend more time on the site.
3. Tinder
Speaking about the best examples of progressive web apps, we couldn’t mention Tinder.
Seeing over 60M monthly users, the dating app opted for a PWA (so-called Tinder Online) to improve user engagement and the overall web experience.
As the Tinder app is massive (about 48 Mb on Android), not everyone is ready to install it at once. Creating Tinder Online helped these users try the dating app without fully committing to the platform. It replicated the native experience, but at the same time, the PWA didn’t push users to download it from the App Store.
They employed proven performance optimization techniques such as code-splitting, lazy loading, and service workers to precache all their route level bundles and make the site super fast.
What is the result?
- Decrease in load times from 11.9 sec to 4.6 sec due to the small size of the PWA;
- Users edit profiles more on the web than on their native apps.
4. Yummly
Yummly is one of the most fantastic PWA examples in the food industry. It is a great cooking platform that customizes the experience to your tastes, diet, cooking skill level, etc. The service also offers plenty of functionality aimed at helping to plan a meal and even shop for ingredients.
Crafting a PWA helped Yummly re-engage users with push notifications and improve overall customer behavior due to smooth and app-like UX.
Even though this progressive application showcases great results, Yummly still urges users to download their native app. Like many other PWA examples, this one can be a middle ground for those users who aren’t ready to go for the native application yet.
5. Petlove
Do you know that Brazil has one of the largest percentages of mobile users in the whole world? 60% of customers in Brazil browse the web and make online purchases exclusively via their phones.
Thus, the following example of progressive web apps is Petlove. It is a Brazillian pet supply brand that recognized the opportunity to improve sales and conversions with the new methodology. Since delivering an impeccable shopping experience on mobile is essential, creating a PWA to satisfy the needs of the regional shoppers was the right way to go.
Besides, as you already know, PWA reduces the amount of data that a user needs to download. This is yet another argument in favor of creating a PWA. Especially in countries like Brazil, where many visitors still use a 2G connection to access the Internet.
What is the result?
- 280% increase in conversions;
- 270% increase in the average time per session;
- 8x less data needed;
- 2x more users go to checkout after implementing a simplified sign-in form.
💡 With the great results that Petlove obtained, it is easy to see how beneficial progressive apps are in terms of conversions. If you struggle with low mobile sales or slow loading speed, a progressive app is a reasonable investment. Turn to our Magento PWA team to find a trustful partner on all your journey.
6. Uber
Uber definitely should be included in our list of popular PWA examples in various industries. The Uber progressive web app appeared on the market in 2017 and was redesigned and rebuilt in 2019. But what was the reason for the switch? Generally, it became essential to make the service accessible to everyone, not just those with the latest smartphones. Leveraging the methodology helps them reach a wider audience, including users with slow Internet access.
In 2019, Uber redesigned and rebuilt its web-based booking flow at m.uber.com from the ground up. They considered users’ surveys and previous experience to make the flow more user-friendly, blazingly fast, and super-engaging.
They employed the Fusion.js framework developed by the Uber dev team for this PWA (now available for everyone as an open-source project). With Fusion.js, Uber could focus on perceived performance. Besides, they began to cache resources using service workers so that returning visitors could get an app-like experience even on slow networks.
What is the result?
- TTFB improved from 1.5 sec to 1.26 sec due to the Fusion.js implementation;
- It takes only 3 seconds to load, even on a 2G connection.
7. Pinterest
2017 was a prosperous year for PWA implementations. Even Pinterest, a service that always relied on its native app, decided to join the hype and release a brand new progressive web app.
Why? There was a strong reason for the switch. After analyzing mobile users’ behavior, they realized that the poor web experience converted no more than 1% of users. Thus, they need to look for ways to improve the low conversion rate.
Over three months, Pinterest restructured its mobile experience using webpack, Redux, and React.js. They paid lots of attention to such aspects as overall performance and image optimization. As such, the Pinterest team used Progressive JPEG and lazy loading to make the images load faster (we’ve mentioned these and other techniques in our guide on how to optimize images for Magento).
This rebuilding led to some positive improvements in core business KPIs.
What is the result?
- + 40% time spent on the progressive app compared to the mobile website;
- + 60% to core user engagement;
- 44% increase in ad revenue rate;
- The Pinterest PWA requires only 150 KB of data storage, making it easier for users to engage with the site.
8. Letgo
Letgo is a regional second-hand reseller marketplace aimed at customers in the US. The progressive web app that they built is a big step towards Headless Commerce, a modern approach that defines the future of online retail.
Thanks to the ample capabilities of the progressive web app example, Letgo managed to grow its user base and engage more customers in immediate selling and buying activities. Instead of pushing their own Android and iPhone apps, Letgo took a different route. And it was pretty successful: the target audience appreciated the option to stay app-free but get all the features of the native app.
9. 2048 PWA Game
If you haven’t played it yourself, you must have at least heard about 2048! The PWA game that quickly obtained popularity and hype, 2048 is simple in essence yet quite addictive. The point of this application game is to join digit blocks to form the sum of 2048 in the total score.
The app is lightweight, very plain, and that’s what makes it so great. Also available in downloadable native format, the game is equally nice in its PWA version.
10. Housing.com
Housing.com must be among the best examples of progressive web apps. It is a real estate service that’s based in Mumbai. The platform does its best to simplify searching for a place to live, be it for rent or purchase, in over 35 major Indian cities.
Initially, the Housing.com team had to overcome the page load challenge as users were very impatient with the slow page uploads due to poor internet connections. Moreover, they had to keep in mind the question of costly internet, which meant that people wouldn’t download the native app as often as Housing.com would want. A PWA enabled visitors to use the platform in an offline mode right from browsers.
Among the significant aims that they wished to reach was delivering an impeccable web experience. And according to the PageSpeed Insights scores that the website obtained, it can boast an excellent 100 out of 100 mobile-friendliness scores.
What is the result?
- 38% increase in conversions;
- 40% lower bounce rate;
- 10% longer average session;
- 30% increase in page load times.
11. Spotify PWA
Spotify, a music streaming service providing millions of songs and podcasts, is one of the most fantastic examples of PWA websites ever. Like a native app, the Spotify PWA delivers an outstanding user experience to desktop and mobile visitors.
Among the things that make it stand out are the brushed-up UI and refined design needed to provide a top-grade experience. The elements aren’t cramped together and are easy to tap.
The lightning-fast progressive web app has many great features, for instance, those that deal with customization (easy-to-craft playlists, changeable background colors, great pitches, and selections based on the user’s tastes).
The only current weakness that’s worth noting is that the offline version doesn’t function perfectly yet, but after some time, this won’t be a big deal.
What is the result?
- Free-to-paid conversion allegedly went from 26.6% to 46%;
- +30% of monthly active users;
- +40% average listening hours per month.
12. Treebo
Treebo is one of the most well-known hotel booking websites in India. It was founded in 2014 as a budget hotel aggregator, catering to users who were short on money. They recently switched to a new PWA as their default mobile experience, initially using React and eventually switching to Preact in production.
The PWA is well-designed, fast, and shows just what one needs to pick an optimal room for the stay:
- good location details;
- appropriate tags and features;
- rich photos of locations;
- special deals and discounts on “hot” properties.
The filters, search, and tags work together to achieve one goal: completing the booking process. Treebo is an excellent example of how a progressive web app can increase the conversion rate by four times just by being fast and user-friendly.
What is the result?
- 70%+ improvement in time to first paint (compared to their old mobile version powered by a monolithic Django setup);
- 31% improvement in time-to-interactive.
13. Garbarino
Garbarino is a famous retail Argentinian company offering various products: food, DIY items, electronics, furniture, etc. Since 80% of their traffic came from Chrome and people didn’t hurry to install their native app, Garbarino decided to convert their mobile website into a progressive app.
It was a clever idea! Their site turned into one of the best PWA examples. With its bright-red brand colors and energetic design, Garbarino is undoubtedly something you won’t forget soon.
The entire shop is fast and user-friendly. It’s 100% purpose-driven; everything in the store serves the goal of helping you find, pick, and buy the product you need.
Like many other examples of progressive web apps mentioned in the list, the Garbarino team used the React framework for the frontend. The main reason for that is its usability and great online support. After the switch, the company has improved all the business KPIs.
What is the result?
- The conversion rate is 27% higher;
- the Bounce rate decreased by 9%;
- the number of returning visitors increased by 13%;
- pageviews per session increased by 35%, and the average session duration increased by 30%.
14. Kopa (PadPiper)
The Kopa housing service (formerly called PadPiper) provides grounds for connecting people who are searching for roommates for one month and more.
With the growth of the site thanks to the PWA, Kopa’s target audience expanded from just college students to those who graduated recently, digital nomads, and even people with professions that require traveling or relocation.
The Kopa PWA is user-friendly, every element functions correctly, and pages load very quickly without any delay. Plus, I’ve found it helpful that the rental price of the property “sticks” to the bottom of the screen together with the “View availability” button.
Overall, it’s super intuitive to browse properties on the site, and all the necessary data on the location, amenities, host, house rules, etc, is readily available. It’s no surprise that due to the simplicity of the PWA, Kopa’s audience is continuously growing.
15. Google Maps Go PWA
The progressive web app rush didn’t shy away from Google. Their outstanding Google Maps service appeared in a lightweight PWA version a couple of years ago. Before that, the main issue with maps was that they took way too long to load and often back-peddled because of the large data volumes.
They rolled out a PWA that would cope with the limited processing power and RAM (typical case with mobile devices) on the web version to overcome this challenge.
16. Snapdeal
Snapdeal is an Indian clothes store. It started as a daily deal platform, but it became one of the most famous marketplaces in India after a while.
Snapdeal built its progressive web app reasonably early. The store specializes in fashionable clothing and online entertainment, which is a weird mix, but we guess it works for them.
Snapdeal is much more straightforward about its approach to sales. For example, the Add to Home Screen request comes as a pop-up instead of a pop-under (like in other apps). The notification is also highly visible and can become annoying if you are sensitive to these kinds of promotions. But in general, the PWA showcases excellent performance optimization, a high level of usability, and many great discounts.
The customers’ mindset can explain these straightforward sales techniques. After all, Western markets differ from Eastern ones, and what is suitable for some can be too pushy for others.
17. Flipkart
With the slogan of Every Wish Gets Fulfilled Now, Flipkart is famous for being one of the biggest online stores in India. In 2015, the company decided to combine its web presence and native app into a progressive web application. And we believe it was one of the most successful upgrades in the last few years.
Flipkart is an online megastore that specializes in electronics, fashion, beauty, and home décor. That’s why the progressive web app that they built needed to cater to a very diverse audience, from the tech geeks to the fashion crowd. As a result, they had to pay a lot of attention to approaching this UI/UX challenge.
Flipkart PWA app shines when it comes to speed, UI performance, and user experience. The UX is perfect in the Review section.
Also, take a look at the orange call-to-action button. Depending on the context you’ll either see a Buy Now or Place Order button. We think they did a great job highlighting the CTA with a bright, actionable color.
What is the result?
- Users spend more time on the website (compared to the previous mobile version): 3.5 minutes vs. 70 seconds;
- 70% higher conversions;
- 3x lower data usage.
18. Konga
Konga is a relatively young brand. Established in 2012 in Nigeria, it offers merchants a capable marketplace to promote, sell, and interact with their customers.
One of the most distinctive features of Konga is its KXPRESS service which is basically a company-run logistics network that helps the merchants deliver orders to their customers. Think Amazon but with an African flair.
The decision to make a bid for a progressive web app is pretty logical. There are two reasons for this:
- Most Nigerians shop from their phones and very rarely use desktop computers.
- Slow Internet connection (Nigeria is 50% rural).
Konga’s PWA is modern, fast, and functional. I was impressed by how easy it is to browse and find stuff. No wonder users really appreciated how the app worked on slow 2G networks saving dozens of megabytes of data!
What is the result?
- 92% less data for initial load and 82% less data to complete a first transaction (compared to the native app).
- 63% less data for initial load and 84% less data to complete a first transaction (compared to the previous mobile version of the site).
- 1.5x-2x better performance.
19. Jumia
Jumia and Konga (a previous example of a progressive web app) are direct competitors and rival each other for the promising Nigerian retail market. Jumia didn’t want to lag in this struggle and built a PWA in 2016 (the same year as Konga).
The PWA apps of these two giants share a lot in common. Both are laser-focused on usability, data savings, and mobile performance. This is inevitable in a market where users are poor, have older phones, and don’t have access to good Internet.
Both in design and user experience, Jumia and Konga go hand in hand. At the same time, Jumia handled the PWA transition much better.
As we’ve mentioned before, data savings became the primary goal of the app. You can see how fast it works right from the start. This is because most Jumia users buy limited data plans.
Now you can see why Jumia put so much effort into making its PWA so fast and lightweight.
What is the result?
- Data usage five times lower;
- the bounce rate has decreased by 50%;
- 38% open rate;
- Increase in conversions by 9X thanks to push notifications.
20. 5Miles
Want to sell something? Want to buy something? Do you love flash deals? 5Miles is the right platform for you. It’s also an exciting example of a progressive web app done right.
The 5Miles’ progressive web app is excellent. It’s fast – no question about that – well-built and engaging. For example, have you seen their Dash Bids? They are fascinating to watch. The app allows users to participate in real-time bidding processes during which bids come and go in a matter of seconds.
It’s captivating. The bidding game feels and looks like a game. It’s interesting to watch and easy to join. No wonder the 5Miles PWA helped them raise conversions!
What is the result?
- 50% decrease in bounce rates;
- 30% increase in the average session duration;
- 30% better conversion for users arrived through Add to Home screen.
21. Forbes
Another PWA example on our list is Forbes. Back in 2017, they decided to transform their entire mobile web experience and rework their site look and feel. The main focus was on the visual appeal of the content, coupled with fast page load times and superb navigation solutions.
The PWA showed impeccable results straight after the launch, with a visible 50% increase in user engagement. Furthermore, Android users can enjoy enhanced capabilities such as offline mode and push notifications.
22. OnTheMarket
Most of the people who browse real estate deals online are not experienced users. They need a lot of hand-holding to do things. They quickly get frustrated if a site looks strange or has abstruse navigation.
That’s why we decided to highlight OnTheMarket among other examples of PWAs.
The app looks and feels great. The development team put a lot of effort into the elements that matter most: the map, the property features, and the wishlist function. Also, note the contact buttons; they are easy to see and reach.
The OnTheMarket team knows that its customers will want to look through many properties before choosing. The Save feature helps users keep track of exciting offers.
Furthermore, real estate shoppers need a convenient way to compare and return to different offers during their search. As a result, OnTheMarket focused on key usability metrics and made the site fast, reliable, and easy to use.
23. Noon
Noon is chill. The store dresses in yellow and blue colors and tries to be as approachable as possible. Clean design, smooth UI focusing on usability, and bright colors – all these features contribute to the Noon PWA success.
Noon is among the most popular online stores in the Middle East. They sell everything from home appliances to fast fashion stuff and groceries. Their primary markets are the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. With such a colossal scale come tough challenges.
Noon used Magento 2 on the back and a progressive framework on the front to provide an app-like UX and blazingly fast speed. To build such a complex and scalable PWA, you need a team with solid experience with the required tech stack. If you seek a partner you can fully entrust the process, turn to our experienced Magento PWA developers.
One of the things Noon had to deal with was customer satisfaction. The Middle East is diverse, and many customers still live with EDGE/2G Internet, mobile-only access, and outdated devices.
Maintaining a high standard of service for everyone is not easy there. Noon recognized the challenge early and went for building a progressive web app that would be light, quick, and easy to use.
Noon used Magento 2 on the back and a progressive framework for the frontend to convert their website into a PWA. Read our latest guide if you want to know how much it costs to develop a Magento PWA like Noon.com.
24. Debenhams
You might have heard of Debenhams. It’s a British brand that operates stores in 27 countries around the world.
To boost sales and user engagement, Debenhams needed to work better for mobile consumers. 57% of the shoppers used a smartphone to browse the store. At the same time, the website was slow and barely working.
Debenhams became one of the PWA early adopters. They didn’t want to maintain their expensive native app and turned to a progressive one. The marketing team monitored funnel performance, conversions, total revenue, and other vital metrics – all of them improved since the PWA’s launch.
What is the result?
- 40% increase in mobile revenue;
- 20% increase in conversions;
- The customer journey from browsing to purchase was two times faster.
25. River North Hotel
Hospitality has become much trickier since Airbnb, and other aggregators disrupted it. Desperate to regain their ground from the new industry giants, hotels are looking for ways to succeed in the new market landscape. And Best Western River North Hotel is no exception.
Even though their old website worked relatively well, they understood room for improvement. The hotel’s team focused on being more user-friendly, faster, and engaging to gain the upper hand. That’s why in 2018, Best Western River North Hotel decided to go the PWA way. And they succeeded.
We’ve tested the River North Hotel website a bit to see if all these goals have been met. Yep. The site is fast, convenient, and easy to navigate. The photos loaded on our end within seconds.
What is the result?
- a 300% increase in revenue;
- a 500% increase in room nights (compared to the old website);
- six times more customers.
26. OpenSooq
The Middle East has enormous business potential. One of the stores that captured our attention was OpenSooq, a Craigslist-like classified ads website serving 20 countries of the Arab world.
OpenSooq’s key target audience is 85% mobile. That’s a huge number, although it’s not surprising since most developing countries have more mobile users than desktop ones.
To better serve this mobile crowd, OpenSooq decided to introduce a mobile-first app. But if they took the traditional route and just created a native Android or iPhone app, that would leave behind many users who don’t install apps at all.
The right decision was to go with a PWA. Progressive web apps are much easier on low-end device processors. They are lighter and don’t need a lot of storage space on the phone. And this is a considerable concern in a market where people can use extremely budget phones to shop online.
What is the result?
- growth in their monthly active user base (14%);
- increase in page views per session (+48%);
- boost in site visit length (+28%).
27. Trivago
Trivago is one of the world’s leading hotel search engines.
Since more Trivago users access the service on mobile than on desktops, they needed a solution to respond to the challenge. So, they decided to opt for a progressive app.
The Trivago team was highly motivated to create an app that could handle tremendous amounts of user traffic. Think about that, 120 million users a month means over 1.44 billion visits a year.
What is the result?
- more than 500,000 people add the app to their home screens;
- the number of clicks to hotels rose to 94%
- re-engagement rate increased by 150% (thanks to push notifications);
- 97% increase in CTR.
Summary
PWAs still have a few challenges they need to overcome to offer the best possible user experience. For instance, Apple needs to pick up its game to be on par with Android capabilities.
Secondly, PWAs need a more intuitive way to get added to user devices. Right now the Add to Home button sometimes works inconsistently.
Thirdly, PWAs need a more mature dev environment. It’s still a young technology that developers need to learn to use efficiently.
But although PWAs experience all these challenges, they remain one of the most impactful tools for your growth in the 2020s.
With the appearance of dev tools (PWA Drupal Module, SuperPWA, Magento PWA Studio), converting your site into a PWA became much more straightforward.
We hope that these good examples of progressive web apps will inspire you to build your own. Turn to our Magento 2 PWA development services if you need assistance throughout the process.