Selling from the WhatsApp catalog

The WhatsApp catalog is a list of products or services inside your WhatsApp business profile, with a photo, price, description and link for each item. Customers browse, add items to a cart and send it to you as a message, and you close the sale in the same conversation: confirm, send a payment link and arrange delivery. It sells best when it’s tidy, up to date and backed by someone, a person or a bot, who replies quickly.

Plenty of businesses set up a catalog once and forget about it. Others turn it into a real sales channel. The tool is the same; what happens around it is not. This guide walks through what to put in it, how customers buy from it, how to connect it to your store, and what makes it sell.

What is the WhatsApp catalog, and what can you put in it?

Think of it as a shop window inside the chat. It works for physical products and for services, such as treatments, workshops or photography packages.

Each item can have:

• A name and photos
• A price, or no price if it varies
• A short description
• A link to the product page on your website
• Your own item code

You can also group items into collections, such as “New in”, “Wedding flowers” or “Facials”. Collections help people find what they want quickly, especially when the range is large.

How does a customer buy from a WhatsApp catalog?

In five steps, without leaving the chat:

1. They open your catalog from your profile, from a link you share or from an item you send in a conversation.
2. They browse and tap an item to see photos, price and details.
3. They add items to a cart and send it to you as a message.
4. You receive the cart in the chat, confirm availability and the final price, and send a payment link.
5. After payment they get an order confirmation and, later, a delivery update.

Paying inside WhatsApp itself is only available in a few countries. Almost everywhere else, you close with a secure payment link from your payment provider, and a bot can generate that link from the cart automatically.

How do you set up a WhatsApp catalog?

In the Business app, you build it straight from your phone, in the business tools section. On the WhatsApp Business Platform, the catalog is managed in Meta’s Commerce Manager, where it can also be connected to your online store.

In the Business app

This suits a business with a range small enough to manage by hand. Add an item, upload photos, write the price and description, and group items into collections. Prices and availability are updated manually, so set yourself a regular slot to review the catalog.

On the Business Platform

The catalog sits in Commerce Manager and is linked to your WhatsApp Business account. It can be updated from a product feed or a store integration, for example from Shopify or WooCommerce, so new products and price changes flow through without double work. On top of it, a bot can send a single product, a short selection or the whole catalog, depending on what the customer asked.

How do you connect the catalog to your store and CRM?

On the Business Platform, a cart sent from the catalog arrives as structured order data, not just a chat message. Software can then open an order in your store, create a payment link, add the customer to your CRM and send shipping updates, all automatically.

That’s the difference between a catalog that is another way to look at products and a real sales channel. Without a connection, someone retypes every order. With one, the bot confirms, the link goes out and the order lands where your team already works. Our guide to WhatsApp for online stores covers the wider picture, from order updates to repeat sales.

What should you reply when a cart arrives?

Reply quickly, confirm what the customer chose and give them the next step in a single message. A cart left waiting for hours is a cart going cold.

A good reply includes a short thank you, the items ordered, the final price with delivery, an estimated delivery time and the payment link. For example: “Thanks, Priya! That’s two lavender candles with gift wrapping. Here’s your secure payment link, and we’ll let you know as soon as it ships.”

If something is out of stock, say so straight away and suggest an alternative from the catalog rather than cancelling the whole order. A bot can check availability against your store, offer the alternative itself and pass only the tricky cases to a person.

How do you make a WhatsApp catalog actually sell?

Treat it like a physical shop window: clean, organised and refreshed. And use it inside conversations rather than waiting for people to stumble across it.

• Clear photos. A plain background, a few angles, and one shot of the product in use.
• Names people type. “Lavender soy candle”, not an internal code.
• Short descriptions that answer questions. Size, material, delivery time, who it suits.
• Collections that match how customers think. By occasion, by type, by budget.
• Share items in chat. When someone asks “anything for a birthday?”, send three items, not a generic link to your website.
• Promote new items. Share them in your WhatsApp Status and on Instagram, with a direct link to the item.

The conversation around the catalog matters as much as the catalog itself. For techniques on closing in messages, see our guide to chat selling.

Which businesses benefit most from a WhatsApp catalog?

Businesses whose customers like to ask before they buy, and businesses with repeat orders.

A florist

A customer wants something for an anniversary. The bot asks about colours and budget, then sends three bouquets from the catalog. He adds one to the cart, asks for a card message and gets a payment link.

A skincare brand

Unsure shoppers send a question about their skin type. A team member recommends two products from the catalog in the chat, and the customer sends a cart with both.

A wholesale coffee supplier

Cafés reorder beans regularly. Instead of typing a list in free text, the café owner picks from the catalog and sends a cart, and the order goes straight into the supplier’s system without copying errors.

A nail studio

Treatments appear in the catalog with a description and duration. A client picks one, and the bot offers the next free slots.

What doesn’t the WhatsApp catalog do?

It isn’t an online store, and it isn’t an inventory system.

• In the Business app, stock and prices don’t update themselves
• There’s no built in shipping, discount codes or invoicing
• If someone fills a cart and never sends it, you never see it
• Some categories, such as alcohol and tobacco, aren’t allowed under WhatsApp’s Commerce Policy, so read it before uploading

That’s why the catalog works best as the window, with a proper ecommerce website and connected systems doing the work behind it.

How do you know if your catalog is selling?

Follow the path from catalog view to payment: how many carts arrive, how many get paid, and which items people ask about most. With chats and orders connected to a CRM, you can see this without counting by hand.

Watch for repeated questions too. If many customers ask about the size or delivery time of the same item, that answer belongs in its catalog description.

WhatsApp catalog checklist

• Every item has a clear photo, a price and a short description
• Items are grouped into collections
• Prices and availability are current
• You have a ready reply for incoming carts: confirmation, payment link and delivery time
• Questions get fast answers, from a person or a bot
• Chat orders are recorded in your systems, not just on a phone

Bringing it together

The WhatsApp catalog shortens the distance between “I like that” and “I bought it”. It works when it’s tidy, current and connected to what happens after the cart is sent. At Kaede Digital we connect the catalog to your store, CRM and payments, and build a WhatsApp bot for business that recommends products, takes orders and sends payment links, so the sale closes inside the conversation.

FAQ

Can customers pay inside WhatsApp?

Built in payments are available only in a small number of countries. Everywhere else, businesses send a secure payment link from their payment provider. A bot can create that link automatically from the customer’s cart.

Does the WhatsApp catalog cost anything?

Creating a catalog in the Business app has no separate charge. On the Business Platform, Meta charges for certain messages according to its pricing, and there is also the cost of the software and integrations built on top.

Can I list services instead of products?

Yes. Clinics, studios and consultants list treatments, packages or workshops, with a description and sometimes without a fixed price. From the catalog, the customer can move straight to booking or to a chat with your team.

Do I still need an online store if I have a WhatsApp catalog?

Usually, yes. The catalog is convenient for people already chatting with you, but an online store can be found on Google, handles stock and shipping, and serves customers who would rather not write. Connected, the two cover each other’s gaps.