How to create a WhatsApp catalog: setup, cart and sales (2026)

WhatsApp is no longer just for chatting; for many businesses it's become a storefront. The WhatsApp catalog is a mini shop tied to your profile that lets you showcase your products or services directly inside the app. The customer browses your products, adds them to a cart and sends their order to you — all without leaving the chat. For small businesses without a website, the catalog is a no-code, free gateway to e-commerce.

In this guide we cover what the WhatsApp catalog is, how it's created, the elements of a good product entry, collections, the cart and payment flow, the difference between the app and the API, the limitations and how to connect the catalog to your sales pipeline. Note: WhatsApp's features and limits can change over time; always verify current details on WhatsApp's official help page.

What is the WhatsApp catalog?

The WhatsApp catalog is a product showcase living inside your WhatsApp Business profile. It lists the products your business sells — with name, price, description and images; customers browse this list and add what interests them to a cart. The catalog is designed especially for micro and small businesses without their own website or app: Meta lets these businesses sell right where their customers already are. In short, the catalog turns WhatsApp from a chat tool into a sales channel.

Why use the WhatsApp catalog?

Customers increasingly prefer messaging a business to visiting a store. The catalog answers this behaviour: the customer sees your products in an organised showcase instead of requesting photos one by one and waiting. This is both convenience for the customer and time saved for your team — you don't send the same product info over and over. The catalog is also free and takes minutes to set up. Offering a storefront without the cost of a website makes it one of the most undervalued small-business tools.

How to create a WhatsApp catalog

Setting up a catalog in the WhatsApp Business app is simple. Open the app, tap the three dots at the top right and follow Settings → Business tools → Catalog. Tap "Add new item," upload product images (up to 10 per product), then fill in the fields: product name, price, description, website link and product code. Save. Meta reviews each item — usually within a few minutes, sometimes up to 24 hours. Repeat this for every product. Once the catalog is live, anyone who visits your profile can browse it.

The elements of a good product entry

Each product entry has five main fields: name, price, description, link and product code. But what really determines conversion is the images — since the customer can't touch the product, the photo has to make up for that. Square images (1080x1080 pixels, 1:1 ratio) give the best result; because WhatsApp crops previews to a square and landscape photos get awkwardly cut. Use clean, white-background, consistently styled JPG or PNG images. A clear image and a clear description let the customer decide without asking questions.

Organising with collections

As your product count grows, leading the customer through a long list loses their interest. Collections let you group your products logically: like "Bestsellers," "New Arrivals," "Sale" or "Winter." This works like digital aisles; it directs the customer straight to what interests them and reduces decision fatigue. You can rotate collections by season or campaign. A well-organised catalog both looks more professional and sells faster. A new collection may go through a review process of up to 24 hours before customers can see it.

The cart and order: how does payment work?

The customer adds the products they like from the catalog to a cart and sends this cart to you as a structured order message. But in most regions (including the US, Europe and Turkey) this isn't a "payment": the catalog is a discovery tool, the actual sale is completed elsewhere. When the cart reaches you, you send a payment link (like a bank/card link) or redirect the customer to your site. In some countries (like India and Brazil), direct in-WhatsApp payment is integrated. Via the API, advanced features like a "multi-product message" (MPM), which can show up to 30 products in a single message, become available.

Sharing the catalog

A catalog's value depends on how much traffic you bring to it. Every catalog and every product has its own link; by tapping the chain/link icon, you can share this link on social media, in your email signature or on your website. A WhatsApp link or a QR code are powerful ways to take the customer straight to your catalog — we covered these in creating a WhatsApp link and creating a WhatsApp QR code. Putting a QR code in your storefront window offers a "scan and order directly" experience. The more visible the catalog, the more it sells.

The Business app or the API?

You can manage the catalog in two ways. The Business app is free and easy, but limited to 500 products, with manual updates and basic automation. The API costs per message, but the product count is practically unlimited (via an external data feed), and it offers automatic inventory updates, AI chatbot integration, unlimited team members and multi-product messages. For a small catalog the app is enough; if you need thousands of products and automation, you move to the API. We detailed the difference between the two in WhatsApp Business app vs API.

Limitations and the Commerce Policy

The catalog is a powerful tool but has limits. In most regions there's no built-in checkout; the cart redirects to an external payment. There's no automatic inventory tracking — so it's better to "hide" a sold-out product than delete it (deleting and re-adding starts a new approval process). In the app the catalog is limited to 500 products. Also, every product must comply with the WhatsApp Commerce Policy: certain categories like tobacco, weapons and pharma are off-limits, and non-compliant products are rejected. Knowing these limits lets you set up your catalog correctly.

Connecting the catalog to the sales pipeline

The catalog is great for discovery but weak for follow-up: a cart arrives to you as a message and, if tracked by hand, is easily lost. This is where a CRM fills the gap. It ties every catalog order, question and customer to a record; reminds you to follow up, tracks whether a payment link was sent and lets no order fall through the cracks. You can find connecting WhatsApp to the sales pipeline in integrating WhatsApp into a CRM and the basic infrastructure in what is a CRM. The catalog starts the sale; the CRM closes it.

Boosting sales with the catalog: tips

For more sales from your catalog: make your images square (1:1) and high-quality; put the bestselling or highest-margin products first, because most customers don't scroll down; group products into collections to make browsing easier; hide sold-out products instead of deleting them; and share your catalog everywhere (Instagram bio, website, QR code). Also use the catalog as a conversation starter — a product suggestion, a campaign announcement. We covered the marketing side in WhatsApp marketing. The catalog is a tool; how you use it determines the sales.

Common mistakes

Avoid these mistakes: using low-quality or landscape (cropped) images; piling all products into one disorganised list and not using collections; creating unnecessary approval delays by deleting and re-adding sold-out products; adding products against the Commerce Policy; and setting up the catalog but not sharing it (an invisible storefront doesn't sell). Another big mistake is not connecting catalog orders to a system and losing them in follow-up. The catalog drives discovery, but it's follow-up that closes the sale.

Example: a store's WhatsApp catalog

Picture a small boutique. In the WhatsApp Business app, it sets up a catalog of products each with square, clear photos. It groups products into "New Season," "Bestsellers" and "Sale" collections. It puts the catalog link in its Instagram bio and hangs a QR code in the storefront window. A customer browses the catalog, adds a few products to the cart and sends the order message. The boutique records this order in the CRM, sends a payment link and reminds itself to follow up. A sold-out product isn't deleted but hidden. In the end the boutique sells regularly straight from WhatsApp, without a website.

Summary

The WhatsApp catalog is a no-code, free storefront living inside your WhatsApp Business profile — a powerful sales channel especially for businesses without a website. In the app you can add up to 500 products, each with 10 images and five fields, and organise them with collections. The customer sends their cart as an order message; in most regions payment is completed with an external link. Square images, good collections and wide sharing boost sales. But remember: the catalog drives discovery, while it's follow-up that closes the sale — so connect catalog orders to a CRM so no opportunity is lost.