The short answer
A WhatsApp Business catalog is a free product list inside WhatsApp. Customers browse it and send you a cart as a message, and you still confirm the order, collect payment and keep track of it yourself in the chat. An online store adds checkout, payment, stock counts and an order list. The catalog alone is fine for a few orders a week; add a store when you start chasing payments or losing track.
On this page
What is a WhatsApp Business catalog?
The catalog is a product list built into the free WhatsApp Business app. You add each product with photos, a name, a price, a description and an optional link. Customers open it from your profile or from a link you send, look through it, and can add items to a cart.
When they send the cart, it arrives as a message in your chat. From there, the order is a conversation again: you confirm what they want, agree on delivery, and arrange payment.
What is the catalog good at?
- It costs nothing and takes a few minutes to set up if you already use WhatsApp Business.
- Customers stay in the app they already use. Nobody needs to open a website.
- It replaces sending the same photos again and again. Share one item or the whole catalog in a tap.
- Cart messages are clearer than free text. You see the items and quantities instead of “the blue one from yesterday”.
Where does the catalog stop?
- No checkout in most countries. The cart is a message, not a payment. Payments inside WhatsApp exist only in a few countries and for some businesses, so most sellers still collect money by transfer, link or cash.
- No stock counts. You can hide an item that sold out, but nothing counts down as people order, so two people can “buy” the last one.
- No order list. Orders stay in chats. There is no list of what is paid, packed or shipped, apart from the labels you add by hand.
- No options per item. Sizes, colours and personalised details usually turn into more messages.
- No shipping rates or pickup times at checkout. You work these out in the chat for every order.
- Customers need WhatsApp. Someone who finds you on Instagram or Google has to switch apps and message you first.
WhatsApp catalog and online store, side by side
| WhatsApp Business catalog | Online store (E2C) | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | Free | $0 a month, 1.99% per sale |
| Where customers order | Inside WhatsApp | Any browser, from any app or link |
| Payment | Arranged in the chat in most countries | Card or PayPal at checkout, or cash, Zelle or e-Transfer marked paid by you |
| Sizes and options | Usually sorted out in the chat | Variants, each with its own stock, plus up to 3 custom fields per product |
| Stock | Hide items by hand | Counts down with each order; sold out can't be ordered |
| Order tracking | Chat labels | One order list with paid, shipped and pickup status, plus emails to the buyer |
| Delivery | Agreed per chat | Shipping methods and pickup hours shown at checkout |
When is the catalog enough?
Stick with the catalog if most of your customers already message you on WhatsApp, you take a handful of orders a week, and payment is rarely a problem. Many sellers run happily like this for a long time.
When should you add an online store?
- You are chasing payments or checking screenshots every day.
- You have sold something you no longer had.
- Customers find you on Instagram, TikTok or Google, not only WhatsApp.
- Each order needs choices, such as a size, a flavour or a name to engrave.
- You want a list of past orders without scrolling through chats.
How do you use both together?
You don't have to choose. Keep WhatsApp for conversation and let the store handle the order.
- Put your store link in your WhatsApp Business profile and status.
- When a cart or question arrives in WhatsApp, reply with an order link with the items already in the cart.
- The customer pays at checkout. The order lands in your list and stock goes down.
- Add a WhatsApp chat button to your store so shoppers who have a question can still reach you.