Real-World Examples of Successful Progressive Web Apps

Most of us can only dream of having Starbucks' brand recognition and reach. Its 2022 revenue stands at $32.34 billion, up nearly 11% from last year. Its success is partially due to harnessing the power of progressive web apps to reach more customers.

Starbucks’ progressive web app takes up 0.16% of the space of its native iOS app. And it also gives users the intuitive look, feel, and responsiveness of an app on their desktop.

The result? Starbucks doubled the number of web users placing orders each day. Now its web orders are on a par with mobile orders. Impressive achievements from a relatively simple app that works across all devices!

Our second progressive web app example is one of the biggest hotel search engines in the world. Many people browse Trivago on the go, dreaming of their next vacation while commuting to and from work. To overcome the frustration and lost opportunities caused by weak signals, subways, and elevators, Trivago developed its PWA back in 2017.

Engagement with Trivago’s progressive web app has been huge, with over half a million users adding it to their home screens. In addition, it more than doubled the average number of repeat visits compared with its native app. Best of all, it resulted in a 97% clickout to hotel offers.

Pinterest is in the inspiration business, and it realized it needed a way to engage users fast. Building a progressive web app was the way forward for them, and it quickly paid dividends.

Medium reported that Pinterest experienced:

Whenever users spend longer on your app, you know you’re doing something right. Customers love the responsiveness and fast loading times of a PWA.

Pinterest was able to cut its users’ first paint waiting time from 4.2s to 1.8s, with time to interactive slashed from 23s to 5.6s. And these results were obtained on Android hardware over a 3G connection!

Doesn’t it make you wonder what a progressive web app could do for your business?

Forbes started life as a business magazine over 100 years ago. It launched its progressive web app in 2017 and soon started to reap the benefits, including:

43% more sessions per user

20% increase in ad viewability

For a business predicated on ad views, getting users onto the app and engaging with content fast is crucial. Its progressive web app allows them to display content much more quickly than on a native app. Forbes’ goal was to save its 38 million monthly mobile readers anything from 2 to 10 seconds per page.

Forbes’ example shows that progressive web apps are not only useful in e-commerce. Businesses providing content that rely on ad-based revenue streams can also benefit from the user-friendly features of PWAs.

Our final example was already a behemoth in its local market and beyond before it launched its progressive web app. In fact, it’s one of the biggest e-commerce retailers in the world.

When it launched its progressive web app, its goal was to convert new users to its native app. But users went a different way, increasing conversions by 76% . They loved the convenience of not having to download an app coupled with the intuitive shopping experience of the PWA.

These real-world success stories show that every e-commerce business needs a progressive web app. They turn casual visitors into serious customers. PWAs can boost ad revenue and increase the time users spend on your app.

Whether you’re a business owner or a web design agency, progressive web apps should be a core feature of your offering. Working with a white-label website builder gives you access to a ready-made progressive web app builder.

Web on Demand’s website builder has everything you need to meet your clients’ needs. Schedule a discovery call to learn more and we'll be happy to answer all your questions.