Progressive web application, or simply PWA, is the thing that can boost your revenue by up to 300%. Today we will consider what PWA and GraphQL are and what Amasty mods for Magento 2 already support these technologies.
Let’s start without further ado.
GRAPHQL AND MAGENTO 2
Magento 2.3.1 was released on March 26. One of the innovations was compatibility with GraphQL.
GraphQL is a syntax that describes how to ask for data. It was released by Facebook in 2015.
In a nutshell, GraphQL is an analog of REST and SOAP APIs. Comparing them, you might find that GraphQL has some significant advantages:
- GraphQL allows you to specify what data you expect from the server.
- You can receive all the needed data in one request.
- Your site will work much faster thanks to the lower number of server requests.
HOW WILL GRAPHQL BE USED IN MAGENTO 2?
GraphQL is a convenient tool that allows you to get the result that you need faster. Also with GraphQL, you can develop PWA conveniently. High-quality PWA can be 2 times faster than usual.
Note: Read more about GraphQL and Magento 2.
WHAT IS PWA AND HOW TO USE IT IN MAGENTO 2?
Simply speaking, PWA is a blend of native apps and web. How does it look like? Say, you are reading an article through a mobile browser, at some point, the popup with an offer to add this website to the Home Screen appears. After you add it to your main page and open it, it will look like a usual application with similar functionality.
But why do you need it?
Let’s briefly remind you of the reasons why PWA has such an impact on e-commerce.
HIGH SPEED
PWA technically is a single-page website. It means that the loading process will be initiated only once. And after that, you don’t need to reload the whole site to go to another page. The information will load as needed, but without reloading the entire page.
OFFLINE SUPPORT
All previously visited pages of the website are cached and are stored on a user’s mobile device. So customers can interact with your store. The PWA will refresh the data after the connection will be renewed.
NO INSTALLATION NEEDED
Your customers can add the icon of your PWA to their home screen, but they don’t need to download the real app. When they click on the icon, a web browser will open and use pre-loaded data. But the interface looks like the traditional app.
MAGENTO 2 PWA STUDIO FEATURES
The Magento PWA Studio is the pack of development tools, that allows you to create PWA for the Magento store easily.
What tools it offers:
For more info about the Magento 2 PWA Studio read the official documentation.
COMPATIBLE AMASTY EXTENSIONS
Since Magento 2.3.1 was realized we receive a lot of requests and questions about the compatibility of our plugins with PWA and GraphQL. And we are already working to meet your needs.
Below is the list of extensions that are already compatible or coming soon.
AUTOMATIC RELATED PRODUCTS
This module allows you to create product recommendations automatically. Just create rules and bundles of related products, upsells, and cross-sells to display them on a product or category page. Now, this mod is compatible with GraphQL. This means that you can use it to create your PWA.
Go to automatic Related Products ->
CUSTOM FORM
This extension offers you pre-made templates of the most common forms and easy to use drag-and-drop constructor with 20 elements. It allows you to create any form according to your marketing needs. And in the latest 1.11.0 version, we have added the compatibility with GraphQL.
BLOG PRO
The Blog Pro plugin provides you with all the needed tools to create a blog in your Magento 2 store. Create informative posts that will increase sales and customer engagement. Support of GraphQL technology allows you to display post pages, recent posts, comments, tags, author page, category page, etc. faster and create PWA with blog functionality.
COMING SOON: MEGA MENU
The convenient menu is one of the most important things that have an impact on user experience. This module doesn’t require any technical skill, so you can add images, products, links, labels, or enable the hamburger menu. Very soon this module will be available in a new version that will support GraphQL compatibility.
COMING SOON: SHOP BY BRAND
Multi-brand stores often need additional functionality to navigate customers to their favorite brands. Shop by brand allows you to create a separate brand menu, slider, CMS page. It offers the opportunity to add brand labels and other unique content. And now we are working on full GraphQL compatibility.