A WhatsApp catalog is a list of your products that you upload to Meta and connect to your WhatsApp Business account, so customers can browse items inside the chat instead of being sent to your website. You build it in Meta Commerce Manager or through the Commerce API, then decide, per phone number, whether the storefront icon and the shopping cart are switched on. What it is not is a checkout: outside India, an order placed in WhatsApp reaches you as a notification, and you still fulfil it in your own shop.
- 4 stages. Upload the inventory, set the commerce settings, share the products, handle the replies.
- 30 products fit into one multi-product message; a product carousel holds 10.
- 1 switch decides whether anyone finds the storefront at all — and it is off by default.
Set a catalog up when it has a job to do: a short range, a support conversation that needs to show a product, a chat people open to browse. Upload the inventory, then check the two commerce settings before you tell anyone the catalog exists — that second step is what separates a working storefront from an invisible one. The orders still land in your shop, and the messages that bring people back are still the part that earns the money.
See what that messaging side is worth for your store with the Keaz Forecast.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need the WhatsApp Business API for a catalog?
How many products can I send in one message?
Can customers pay inside WhatsApp?
Why can't customers see my catalog?
Nils Spölgen
Founder at Keaz. Serial founder in chat marketing — built a local agency into Keaz, the WhatsApp marketing platform for Shopify. Bootstrapped the MVP, raised funding, and scaled to 200+ merchants in DACH. Writes about flows, opt-in & GDPR, Klaviyo, and realistic revenue benchmarks — prefers conservative math over impressive claims. View profile
