” Know your customer ” – a phrase we know all too well.
Understanding your customers behaviour means understanding that their smartphone is their main device and the most optimal way of engaging with your patrons.
Is a good looking website and a traditional mobile application enough or do we need to advance our technologies in the trade to keep up with competitors?
So what is a PWA – Progressive Web Application?
A Progressive Web Application basically takes advantage of the latest technologies to combine the best of web and mobile apps. It is a technology that follows on from mobile marketing technologies, increases your online sales and if you’re in the restaurant trade, you should be definitely be using it to increase your ROI.
The benefits of building your own PWA for your restaurant are endless.
Let’s define a PWA further:
Sometimes referred to as an installable web app or hybrid web app, a Progressive Web App is like a website, offering the best of the web. It acts similarly to a mobile app with the best user experience, but is installed straight to your phone as a website, without being added as an app. However, it has the functionality of notifications like an app and has almost instant gratification for the user.
How will it work?
As the app is a type of webpage or website known as a web application, there is no requirement for users to install the web apps via distribution systems like Apple App Store or Google Play.
Without having to download through iTunes or the Android store, a PWA allows the user to save your website directly to their mobile’s home screen.
What does this offer?
Once the user has added your website to their phone, they can access your website quickly, before they can do a search for other local restaurants.
This in turn creates deeper engagement from their phone. As a restaurant, you can then take advantage of your extra visibility and user engagement.
Advantages of using a progressive web application:
- PWAs make it easy for the user to order food and make reservations.
- As PWAs fit mobile and desktop, they offer a fully responsive web experience.
- High engagement by users – you can use push notifications to communicate deals and specials.
- There are studies to show that users spend more time on your site.
- Less users leave your site as the progressive web app loads quicker than a website.
- It creates more loyalty through easy access to information
Let’s look at the comparison between a traditional mobile app vs a Progressive Web App:
- Over the last two years, there was an insurgence to get a variety of mobile apps, for online booking, reservations and loyalty programs. These have generally been slower, had fewer features and are less used. PWAs perform faster, have more features and have the ability to work offline.
- Mobile apps have never revealed a clear strategy on how they will grow business, while many businesses have shown significant improvements in key performance indicators such as increased user time spent on a page, conversions and revenue.
- PWAs have ‘app-like’ features. They install directly to a users home screen, are independent of connectivity and push messaging. They are supported by most browers – Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari, while more browsers will support their features in the near future.
- A lot of websites, although they look good, have not kept up with meeting the needs of their users. PWAs solve this problem by offering high functionality and a succinct user experience while they don’t need to be downloaded either.
- Adoption of the mobile app has previously been a challenge. Restaurants have had slow progress in getting their customers to download a native mobile app. There is limited space on a users phone homescreen with apps fighting for a spot, and often once downloaded, they are eventually removed after hardly been used. PWAs don’t take up nearly as much space on a phone, and they are easy to install opposed to the data and space a mobile app takes to download.
- For the owner of a restaurant app, if an issue arises, it is more expensive to maintain and difficult to trouble shoot a mobile app than it is for a progressive web app.
To sum it up:
Every aspect of your restaurant can be more accessible to your customers by the touch of a screen, from your latest menus, geo location and trading hours. You can make use of the visual impact by displaying your chef’s creations through this enhanced digital platform and have that first hand contact with your client base.
A number of progressive web apps have been built for restaurants globally. Web developers build progressive web apps for restaurants, but also help develop the right mobile marketing plan to grow businesses.
PWA’s are imperative in the next phase of mobile marketing technology and as a restauranteur, should be seriously considered in your marketing strategy.
If you would like to turn your current website or application into a PWA, contact us to get started:
