How one department store is driving up sales with Progressive Web Apps

Search engine Google, which has been a huge advocate for mobile experiences for consumers over the last few years as search users have increasingly transitioned from desktop Internet connectivity to mobile internet and app use, has been outlining how the department store, Debenhams has used Progressive Web Apps (PWA) very successfully to drive up sales.

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that we’re very much favour of PWAs here at Eazi-Apps so this case study from Google really underlines the value of this technology, especially for retailers and high street stores.

The importance of mobile

Google reports that over half of all website traffic to the Debenhams web site comes from mobile device. With 57% of visitors surfing the site from a mobile device, offering a powerful mobile experience is obviously key to the Debenhams team.

The marketing team realised that as traffic was shifting from the desktop top to mobile connectivity, the department store needed to create a fast path to purchasing for the visitor. This was crucial to maintaining and growing conversions as shoppers increasingly preferred mobile.

Debenhams says it realised that mobile web visitors were higher in number of users of its existing app so to bridge the gap, it decided to build a Progressive Web App. This was done in place of maintaining its existing app.

Why PWA?

Jim Hingston, the Head of Digital Product for Debenhams told Think With Google that, “We decided to launch a PWA because it’s driven by the customer experience, it’s credible technology, it offers an app-like experience on the web and it offers the best performance.”

How did a PWA help Debenhams?

According to the data published by Google, the addition of a PWA to the Debenhams online offering had a notable impact for the high street and online retailer.

The case study shows a 20% increase in the number of conversions recorded and a 40% increase in the amount of mobile revenue generated following the PWA launch.

The retailer says other important online metrics such as speed and bounce rates were also helped by the launch of the PWA, suggesting that shoppers found the new PWA experience to be easy, useful and enjoyable.

Key takeaways

Progressive Web Apps can, as we have seen in this case study from Google, really help to improve the mobile experience offered to customers. What’s more, it can also help to boost sales and keep customers engaged with the brand longer.

Want to find out more about PWAs? Check out some of our older articles here .