If your customers already message you to ask “how much?” and “do you have it in stock?”, a WhatsApp catalogue saves you hours. They browse your products inside WhatsApp, pick what they want and send it to you. No website needed.
Here’s how to set it up properly.
Step 1: Switch to WhatsApp Business
WhatsApp Business is a separate, free app from the normal WhatsApp. Download it from the Play Store or App Store. You can move your existing number across and keep your chats; the app walks you through it.
Tip: if you can, use a number just for the business. It keeps family messages out of the way and lets staff help later.
Step 2: Fill in your business profile
Go to Settings → Business tools → Business profile and complete everything:
- Business name, as it appears on your signboard
- Category, as specific as possible
- Description: one or two lines on what you sell and where
- Address, with the pin in the right place
- Hours
- Email and website, if you have them
A complete profile is the difference between looking like a business and looking like a personal number.
Step 3: Build your catalogue
Go to Settings → Business tools → Catalog and tap Add new item. For each product:
- Photo. Clear, well-lit and on a plain background. You can add more than one.
- Name. What customers call it, not your supplier’s code.
- Price. Put it in. “Price on request” just creates more messages.
- Description. Size, colour, what’s included.
- Item code. Optional, but useful if you keep stock in a book or spreadsheet.
Start with your 10 or 20 best sellers. You can add the rest later.
Step 4: Group items into collections
Once you have more than a handful of products, group them into collections, like “Paint”, “Tools” and “Plumbing”, so customers can find things quickly.
Step 5: Set up quick replies
Quick replies save you typing the same answers all day. Go to Business tools → Quick replies and add shortcuts like:
/price: your price list or catalogue link/pay: your EcoCash, bank or payment details/dir: directions to your shop/hours: your opening hours
Type / in any chat to use them.
Step 6: Greeting and away messages
Under Business tools, set a greeting message for new customers (“Hi! Thanks for messaging. Browse our catalogue here, or tell us what you’re looking for.”) and an away message for after hours, so nobody is left on read.
Step 7: Share your catalogue
Every catalogue and every item has its own link. Share them in your Status, Facebook posts, Google Business Profile and on your shop’s WhatsApp groups. On your profile, the catalogue appears right under your name.
Step 8: Use labels to track orders
Labels like “New order”, “Paid” and “Delivered” keep track of who needs what. Tap and hold a chat to add one.
A few things to watch
- WhatsApp has a commerce policy: some items, like medicines, alcohol and weapons, aren’t allowed in catalogues.
- Keep prices and stock current. An out-of-date catalogue costs more trust than no catalogue.
Rather we did it?
We set up WhatsApp Business with a full catalogue, quick replies and greeting messages for $40. If you outgrow it, our Catalogue website gives you a proper product catalogue with a WhatsApp quote list, where customers build an order and send it to you in one message.