Progressive Web App – Definition

A type of web application that uses modern web capabilities to deliver app-like experiences to users.

PWAs provide fast loading, offline functionality, push notifications, and can be installed on devices like native apps. They offer a cost-effective alternative to native mobile app development. For Salesforce Commerce Cloud specifically, PWA Kit is Salesforce's toolkit for building React-based progressive web app storefronts on top of SFCC's Commerce API, representing the platform's push toward composable, headless architecture rather than the traditional server-rendered SFRA storefront. A PWA storefront changes the content delivery model in a meaningful way: content that used to be rendered server-side within the SFCC template layer instead needs to be delivered through APIs and rendered client-side, which means a CMS integrating with a PWA Kit storefront needs API-based content delivery rather than the content-slot approach used in traditional SFCC implementations. Teams considering a move to PWA Kit should evaluate this content delivery question early, since retrofitting a CMS built around server-rendered content slots onto a PWA architecture typically requires more rework than starting with an API-first content approach from the outset.