WhatsApp Catalogue for Business: Set Up, Share and Take Orders

A WhatsApp catalogue lets customers browse your products inside the chat, add them to a cart and send you the order as a message. On the free WhatsApp Business app you can list up to 500 items; on the WhatsApp Business API you connect a Meta catalogue and send product messages, including to customers outside an open chat using approved templates.

This guide covers both versions, how orders and carts work, how payments fit in for Indian businesses, what you can’t sell, and when a proper online store linked to WhatsApp is the better choice.

The catalogue on the WhatsApp Business app

Every WhatsApp Business app account can build a catalogue for free: Business tools → Catalogue → Add new item. Each item needs a name and the country of origin, and can have a price, description, website link, product code and up to 10 photos or videos. You can list up to 500 items, group them into collections and hide items that are out of stock. WhatsApp reviews each item, and it appears once approved.

Customers open the catalogue from your profile or a link you share, add items to a cart and send the cart to you as a message. You then confirm availability, delivery and payment in the chat.

Catalogues on the WhatsApp Business API

On the API, products live in a Meta catalogue that you create in Commerce Manager (or sync from a product feed) and connect to your WhatsApp Business Account. There’s one catalogue per account, shared by all its phone numbers, and you can turn the cart and the catalogue icon on or off.

Message types

Inside an open 24-hour window you can send these as normal messages. To reach customers outside it, Meta offers approved marketing templates for catalogues, multi-product lists, single products and product carousels.

Carts and orders

• Customers can add up to 99 units of each item and as many different items as they like.
• When they send the cart, it arrives as an order message with each product, quantity and price.
• A sent cart can’t be edited; the customer sends a new one to change it.
• Businesses can’t send a cart; you reply to confirm the order, delivery and payment.

On the API, your software receives the order through a webhook, so it can save the order, notify your team and reply automatically.

Payments inside WhatsApp in India

In India, the API supports an order details message (a utility template) that shows the order summary and lets the customer pay without leaving the chat. Meta supports UPI apps and payment links, and deeper integrations with payment gateways such as Razorpay, PayU, BillDesk and Zaakpay. UPI payments are capped at ₹5 lakh, so higher amounts use web checkout. Some options are limited-access and need a verified business; your gateway and provider decide what you can use.

What you can’t sell

Catalogues and product messages must follow WhatsApp’s Commerce Policy. It bans, among others: alcohol, tobacco and vaping products, drugs and medicines, medical and healthcare products, firearms and weapons, adult products, gambling, multi-level marketing and payday loans. See businesses and products WhatsApp doesn’t allow.

Catalogue or online store?

Many businesses use both: product messages to answer “do you have…?” in the chat, and a store link for checkout. For order updates and cash-on-delivery confirmation, see WhatsApp API for ecommerce.

Selling on WhatsApp with Automate AI

Automate AI’s Online Store gives you your own store page with categories, products and add-ons, payments through Razorpay or cash on delivery, and an automatic WhatsApp message at every order step. Share the store link in chats and campaigns, let the AI Assistant answer product questions, and handle every order conversation in the shared inbox. Online Store is included in Series 2, 3 and 4; see Online Store and pricing.