Launched in 2016, the Progressive Web application enabled the startup Jumia Travel to increase its conversion rate by 33%. In collaboration with Google, the online hotel reservation site in Africa, has just presented a study on this strategy which could well benefit African businesses.
Faster browsing on a website via mobile, this is what the Progressive Web application offers, a technology that makes the site better available on mobile. To better understand the impact of this technological approach, Jumia Travel, in collaboration with Google, published a case study on the use of Progressive Web Technology (PWA) compared to the use of native applications (Android and IOS).
Based on the observation that users of the platform spent more time on mobile, the Jumia team made changes to their site. It’s not about simply making a mobile version of the site, but allowing better navigation via mobile. With the help of PWA technology, the user benefits from many advantages, in particular during his navigation, he consumes significantly less data, which allows a longer life of his battery, with a greater speed than on native applications.
As a result of the integration of the mobile PWA ecosystem, users put more time on the site, which resulted in a better user experience, with the conversion rate growing to 33%, and notably, a weaker rebound on the ecosystem.
According to the CEO of this structure specializing in hotel reservations in Africa, Paul Midy “the adoption of the Progressive Web application aims to provide personalized technology to accommodate all markets, even when the speed of the Internet is still limited. Africa is a mobile intensive market, we are just getting started and believe that creating ways more conducive to the mobile experience is a great way to meet the needs of the users of our services. ”
In figures, the Progressive Web application revealed the following data during the study: A conversion rate of around 33%, a bounce rate of 50%, 12 times more users compared to native applications (Android and IOS), 5 times less data used, 2 times less data to complete the first transaction. It has also been noticed that the traffic to the PWA has eclipsed that to the native app by more than twelve times and continues to grow, while the bounce rate has halved.
According to Jumia Travel Product Manager Giovanni, “In countries like Nigeria and Kenya around 95% and 80% of mobile users use the browser to view the website. The bottom line is that PWA technology gives our customers the same but faster and more content-rich experience on browsers than they have on Android and IOS apps, but at a fraction (5 times less) of the data usage. “.
A report from IDC (International Data Center) indicates that Africa has seen a steady increase in the use of smartphones, and the market is expected to double in volume, accounting for a third of all global terminal transfers by end of 2017. This requires e-commerce players to adapt to mobile strategies.
Considering the fact that Jumia’s main market in sub-Saharan Africa is predominantly 75% mobile customers, it was imperative to fit a very engaging ecosystem. PWA combines high conversion capabilities of native applications with the extensive capabilities of the web, which overcomes the issue of the most frequent 2G networks in SAA (Sub-Saharan Africa), intermittent connectivity and data limitations.
Progressive Web Technology (PWA) presents itself as a boon for Africa, in a context where internet access is often very expensive. It allows a better experience and smoother navigation while consuming less data.
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