Aura Living PWA: A Case Study in Progressive Web App Development

Boosting E-commerce Performance: How a PWA Transformed Aura Living's Mobile Experience

In the competitive landscape of direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce, the mobile experience isn't just a feature—it's the entire storefront for a growing majority of shoppers. Aura Living, a rapidly growing sustainable home goods brand, understood this well. While their desktop site performed admirably, their mobile experience was lagging, creating a bottleneck that throttled growth and customer loyalty. This case study explores how Vertex Web partnered with Aura Living to engineer a solution that not only solved their mobile challenges but set a new standard for performance in their niche through expert progressive web app development.

The Challenge: A Sluggish Mobile Experience Was Hindering Growth

Aura Living had built a successful brand on the Shopify platform, celebrated for its minimalist aesthetic and commitment to sustainability. However, their standard Shopify theme, while functional, presented several critical business challenges on mobile devices:

• Poor Performance & High Bounce Rates: Mobile page load times were consistently over 6 seconds. This frustrating delay led to a mobile bounce rate of over 70%, meaning a significant portion of potential customers left before even viewing a product.
• Low Mobile Conversion Rates: The clunky navigation and slow checkout process resulted in a mobile conversion rate that was less than a third of its desktop counterpart. This discrepancy represented a massive loss in potential revenue.
• Lack of Engagement Features: Unlike larger competitors with native apps, Aura Living couldn't re-engage users with push notifications for new product drops or promotions. They were missing a direct line of communication with their most loyal customers.
• The Native App Dilemma: The leadership team at Aura Living considered developing native iOS and Android apps, but were deterred by the high development costs, long timelines, and the challenge of convincing users to download yet another application from the app store.

They needed a solution that delivered an app-like experience, exceptional speed, and modern engagement tools without the overhead of traditional native app development. They needed a strategic partner to guide them through the complexities of modern web technologies.

The Solution: Strategic Progressive Web App Development with a Headless Architecture

After a thorough discovery process, the Vertex Web team identified a Progressive Web App (PWA) as the perfect solution to meet Aura Living's goals. A PWA would provide the desired app-like features—installability, push notifications, and offline access—directly through the web browser, built on a single, maintainable codebase.

Our approach was centered around a modern, headless architecture to decouple the frontend presentation layer from the backend e-commerce engine. This strategy gave us complete control over the user experience and performance.

1. Technology Stack Selection

We engineered a cutting-edge technology stack designed for speed, scalability, and an exceptional developer experience:

• Frontend Framework: We chose Next.js, a React framework renowned for its performance optimizations. We utilized Server-Side Rendering (SSR) for dynamic pages like user accounts and Static Site Generation (SSG) for product and category pages. This hybrid approach ensures lightning-fast initial loads and optimal SEO.
• Headless CMS & E-commerce: We retained Shopify as the backend engine for product information management (PIM), inventory, and order processing, using the Shopify Storefront API. This headless approach allowed Aura Living's marketing team to continue using the familiar Shopify interface they loved.
• Backend Augmentation: To handle features beyond Shopify's scope, like user profiles, wishlists, and review management, we integrated Supabase. This open-source Firebase alternative provided a powerful PostgreSQL database, authentication, and real-time capabilities with a simple API.
• PWA Core Technologies: We implemented a robust Service Worker to handle intelligent caching of assets, enabling near-instant repeat visits and reliable offline functionality for browsing previously viewed products. The Web App Manifest file controlled the PWA's installability, splash screen, and home screen icon, creating a truly native feel.
• Deployment: The entire application was deployed on Vercel, providing a seamless CI/CD pipeline, global CDN, and serverless functions that scale automatically with traffic.

2. UI/UX Design for a Seamless Mobile Journey

Our UI/UX team worked in parallel to design a mobile-first interface that felt intuitive, fast, and elegant. We focused on micro-interactions, gesture-based navigation, and a streamlined, one-page checkout process. The design was clean and minimal, aligning with Aura Living's brand identity while prioritizing speed and usability. We conducted extensive user testing with interactive prototypes to validate our design choices before a single line of code was written, ensuring the final product would be both beautiful and highly effective.

3. Executing the Development & Integration

Our development process was agile and transparent. We built the PWA component by component, integrating the Shopify Storefront API for product data and the Supabase API for user-specific features. A key technical achievement was creating a highly optimized, real-time cart and checkout experience that felt instantaneous to the user. We implemented the Push API to allow Aura Living to send targeted notifications about back-in-stock items and exclusive sales, creating a powerful new marketing channel. The entire progressive web app development process, from initial design to final launch, was completed in just 16 weeks.

The Results: A Landmark Success in Performance and Conversion

The launch of the new Aura Living PWA was an immediate success, delivering transformative results across all key performance indicators. The data validated our strategic approach and showcased the power of a well-executed PWA.

Key Results at a Glance:

• 65% Reduction in Average Page Load Time: First Contentful Paint (FCP) dropped from over 6s to just 1.8s.

• 150% Increase in User Engagement: Average session duration more than doubled as users enjoyed the fluid, app-like browsing experience.

• 35% Uplift in Mobile Conversion Rate: The combination of speed and a frictionless checkout process directly translated into a significant increase in sales from mobile users.

• 22% of Mobile Users Installed the PWA: Within the first three months, nearly a quarter of active mobile users added the PWA to their home screen, creating a direct and persistent connection to the brand.

• 75% Decrease in Mobile Bounce Rate: The new, faster experience captivated users, dramatically reducing the number of visitors who left after viewing only one page.

Conclusion: The Future of E-commerce is Fast, Engaging, and App-like

Aura Living's story is a powerful testament to the impact of modern web technology on business growth. By moving beyond a traditional theme and embracing a headless PWA, they were able to leapfrog competitors and deliver a mobile experience that delights users and drives conversions. This project highlights the core philosophy at Vertex Web: we use technology not for its own sake, but as a tool to solve real business challenges and create tangible value for our clients.

If your business is facing challenges with mobile performance, user engagement, or conversion rates, it might be time to consider how a PWA can transform your digital presence. Contact Vertex Web today to discuss your project and learn how our expert development team can help you achieve your goals.