WhatsApp Catalogues for E-Commerce: A Guide to Selling in Chat
For a lot of customers, opening WhatsApp is easier than opening a browser tab and hunting through a website's navigation. WhatsApp's catalogue features lean into that by letting businesses showcase products directly inside a chat, so browsing, questions and checkout can all happen in the same conversation. This guide covers how catalogues work and how to set one up well.
What a WhatsApp catalogue actually is
A WhatsApp catalogue is a set of products or services attached to your business profile, each with a photo, name, price and short description. Customers can browse it directly from your chat — tapping into a scrollable product grid without leaving WhatsApp — and businesses can also send individual catalogue items straight into a conversation when a customer asks about something specific.
What you can include per catalogue item
Browsing a catalogue: the customer's view
From a customer's side, tapping the catalogue icon on your business profile opens a grid of products they can scroll through, tap into for more detail, and send straight into the chat to ask a question. It feels closer to browsing a small storefront than reading a list of links, which matters for impulse purchases and for customers who are more comfortable asking a quick question before buying than filling in a website's search bar.
Customer asking about a catalogue item
Hi, is the navy jacket from your catalogue still in stock in a medium?
Business reply with a catalogue item attached
Yes, medium is available! Here's the item with sizing details: [catalogue item attached]. Want me to set one aside for you?
Checkout-via-chat: how far it goes
Depending on your setup, checkout can happen almost entirely inside the chat — a customer picks items, confirms quantities and a delivery address, and a payment link or in-chat payment option finishes the order — or the catalogue can act as a bridge that hands the customer off to your website's checkout once they're ready to pay. Many businesses start with the second approach, since it keeps their existing payment and order systems in place, and move toward deeper in-chat checkout as volume justifies the extra setup.
Setting up a WhatsApp catalogue
Get WhatsApp Business API access
Catalogue features sit on top of the Business API, so you'll need access through a Business Solution Provider like Havari.
Upload your product range
Add photos, names, descriptions and prices for each item, organised into categories if your range is large.
Link checkout or payment
Connect a payment link, checkout page, or in-chat payment option so an interested customer can complete the purchase.
Promote the catalogue in conversations
Share relevant items when customers ask about products, and reference the catalogue in broadcasts and away messages.
Route orders and questions to your team
Make sure catalogue-driven conversations land in a shared inbox so nothing gets missed once interest turns into a question.
Keep the catalogue current
Nothing kills trust faster than a customer ordering an item your catalogue shows as available when it's actually out of stock. Treat catalogue upkeep the same way you'd treat your website's stock levels.
Who catalogues suit best
Good fits for WhatsApp catalogues
“A catalogue turns 'let me check and get back to you' into 'here it is, in stock, want me to send a payment link?' — inside the same conversation the customer already started.”
Combining catalogues with broadcasts and templates
Catalogue items can also be featured in broadcast campaigns, though the same template rules apply outside the 24-hour session window — a broadcast promoting new arrivals still needs to go out as an approved template if the recipient hasn't messaged recently. Within an active conversation, though, sharing catalogue items is completely free-form, which is where most of the actual browsing and selling tends to happen.
Don't skip the opt-in step
Sending catalogue-based promotions to a broadcast list still requires the same marketing opt-in as any other WhatsApp campaign — a customer asking one product question doesn't automatically consent to ongoing promotional messages.
Havari supports catalogue-driven conversations alongside broadcasts, templates and a shared team inbox, so product questions, orders and support all stay in one place rather than splitting across WhatsApp, email and a separate order system.
Do I need a website to use a WhatsApp catalogue?
No — a catalogue can stand alone with in-chat payment options, though many businesses link it to an existing website checkout rather than rebuilding payment flows from scratch.
Can customers buy without ever leaving WhatsApp?
Depending on your payment setup, yes — orders can be confirmed and paid for entirely within the chat, though plenty of businesses use the catalogue to hand off to a website checkout instead.
Is a WhatsApp catalogue the same as a broadcast list?
No — a catalogue is a browsable product listing attached to your profile, while a broadcast list is how you send messages (which can reference catalogue items) to multiple opted-in contacts at once.
How many products can I list?
WhatsApp catalogues support sizeable product ranges organised into categories, though very large inventories are usually better served pairing the catalogue with a full website rather than replacing it entirely.
WhatsApp catalogues work best as a shortcut that removes friction from a conversation that was already happening — a customer asking about a product gets shown it, priced and ready to buy, without switching apps. Paired with proper opt-in and a shared inbox to catch every question, it turns WhatsApp into a genuine sales channel rather than just a support line.