Summary
5miles decreases bounce rate by 50% and increases conversions by 60% with new Progressive Web App
Results
- 50% decrease in bounce rates
- 30% increase in time spent on site
- 30% better conversion for users who arrived via Add to Home screen
About 5miles
“Sell what you got and buy what you want!” is the motto of 5miles, a mobile marketplace where shoppers can buy everything from furniture to diamond earrings. The Dallas-based startup with an R&D center in Beijing has more than seven million app downloads.
Challenge
More than half of new shoppers discovered 5miles via the mobile web, but the company found it hard to provide a mobile web user experience that was as fast and engaging as their mobile app. The resulting high bounce and low retention rates prompted them to focus on encouraging users to download their native app. Not everyone downloaded their app, however, and getting users to install and re-engage with it was challenging and costly.
Solution
5miles built a Progressive Web App (lite.5milesapp.com) to combine the best of their app with the broad reach of the web. It leverages new, open web APIs to offer a mobile web experience that loads quickly, uses less data, and re-engages users in multiple ways. The new strategy delivered a dramatic improvement in overall user experience. They’ve seen a 50% decrease in bounce rates and a subsequent 30% increase in time spent on the site. Engagement rates are now comparable to their native app.
The company wanted to re-engage their mobile web users just as they would with mobile app users. With the Progressive Web App, they’re now able to prompt users to "Add to Home screen,” and users can simply launch the site from the home-screen icon. This has led to high-quality visits, with these users converting 30% more than average users.
5miles also added Push Notifications for mobile web users on Android. Sent via the mobile web, these notifications look and feel exactly like native-app notifications, and work even if the browser isn't currently running on a device.
"With a new user growth rate of 100%, quarter-on-quarter, the mobile web is at the heart of our success,” says Lucas Lu, 5miles CEO. “It’s a major venue for low-cost and highly effective customer acquisition and engagement."