You can sell on WhatsApp by uploading your products to a Meta catalog, connecting it to your business phone number, and sending product messages that customers browse, add to a cart, and send back to you as an order. Customers choose and order without leaving the chat. Each order reaches you with the products, quantities, and prices already filled in. In Meta’s testing, businesses saw an average 7% conversion from multi-product messages sent to carts received.[1] Payment and delivery run in your own systems or a partner’s tool, and in India and Brazil, Meta also lets you request payment inside the chat.
Key Takeaways
- A connected catalog lets customers browse your products, fill a cart, and send you an order without leaving the WhatsApp chat.
- Setup takes one Meta catalog connected to your WhatsApp Business account, and that single catalog serves every phone number on the account.
- Interactive product messages answer a customer’s question with live prices and stock and need no template approval; template versions let you start the conversation and are charged as marketing messages.
- Each cart reaches you as a ready order with products, quantities, and prices, so your team, shop system, or partner tool can act on it straight away.
- Meta adds payment requests to the chat in India and Brazil; in every other market, including Europe, you collect payment through your own payment provider.
What Does Selling on WhatsApp Involve?
Selling on WhatsApp lets customers go from browsing to ordering in the same chat where they ask you questions. It uses Meta’s commerce features on the WhatsApp Business Platform, Meta’s service for businesses that message customers through software, and Meta’s catalog documentation describes four stages:
- Inventory upload: You add products through Meta Commerce Manager, Meta’s tool for managing product listings, or Meta’s Commerce API, a connection that lets your software send product data to Meta.
- Commerce settings: You choose whether customers see a cart and whether your catalog is visible in the chat.
- Product sharing: You send catalog, single-product, multi-product, or carousel messages.
- Customer responses: Orders and product questions arrive in your system as notifications.
These features run on the WhatsApp Cloud API, the connection Meta provides so business software can send and receive WhatsApp messages.
360Dialog is an Official Meta Solution Partner and a BSP (Business Solution Provider), a company Meta authorizes to give businesses access to the WhatsApp Business API, which a business or its software partner uses to send product messages and receive carts.
How Do You Set Up a Product Catalog for WhatsApp?
Setting up a catalog puts your products in front of customers inside WhatsApp: you create it in Meta Commerce Manager, or reuse a Meta catalog you already have, and connect it to your WhatsApp Business account in WhatsApp Manager. A catalog is a structured list of products or services stored with Meta, where each item has a name, description, price, images, and availability.
Meta’s Business Help Center lists three requirements before you connect: a WhatsApp Business Platform account, a catalog your business owns or that is shared with it, and permission to manage that catalog.[2] If you have no account yet, start by learning how to get your WhatsApp Business account approved.
To connect the catalog in Meta Business Suite:
- Open Settings, then All tools, then WhatsApp Manager.
- Choose the account you want to connect and open Catalog.
- Select Choose a catalog, pick your catalog, and select Connect catalog.
Meta allows one catalog per WhatsApp account hierarchy, its term for your account and the phone numbers under it, and that catalog serves every number there.[3] Commerce settings apply per phone number: By default, the shopping cart is on and the catalog storefront icon is hidden.[4]
In the 360Dialog Hub, the catalog is off by default, and you switch it on from Manage WABA.[5] A catalog has no product limit, and our documentation recommends 100 items per catalog so customers can find what they want.
If you want your business number on the official WhatsApp Business API with its catalog switched on, talk to us about setting it up in the 360Dialog Hub.
Which Product Message Should You Send?
Pick the product message by what the customer needs at that moment: one item when they ask about it, a selection or carousel when they are comparing, your whole catalog when they ask what you sell, and a template when you want to start the conversation. An interactive message is a message with buttons or product cards that you send as a reply while the customer service window is open, the 24 hours after a customer’s last message.[6] A template is a pre-approved message format you can send at any time.
Interactive single-product and multi-product messages need no template or pre-approval, and they always show your latest details, prices, and stock.[7] Meta classifies its catalog, single-product, multi-product, and carousel templates as marketing templates.[8] Each one needs Meta’s template approval before you can send it. An interactive carousel needs at least two cards, and every card must come from the same catalog.[9]
Meta’s product sharing documentation sets these formats and limits:[10]
| Format | Type | What the customer sees | Limit | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalog message | Interactive | A thumbnail, your text, and a View catalog button | Whole catalog | A customer asks what you sell |
| Catalog template | Template | The same layout with a View catalog button | Whole catalog | Inviting customers to browse |
| Single-product message | Interactive | One product with image, title, and price | 1 product | Answering a question about one item |
| Single-product template | Template | One product with body text and a View button | 1 product | Featuring one item in a message you start |
| Multi-product message | Interactive | Products grouped into sections | Up to 30 products | Showing a selection in a reply |
| Multi-product template | Template | Products grouped into up to 10 sections | Up to 30 products | Sending a collection |
| Product carousel | Interactive | Product cards that scroll sideways | Up to 10 cards | Comparing a few items |
| Product card carousel template | Template | Cards with a View button or a button to your website | Up to 10 cards | Promoting a few products |
If you want orders from these messages to reach the shop or CRM tools you already run, talk to us about connecting your business number to them.
How Do Carts and Orders Work in a WhatsApp Chat?
A WhatsApp cart lets customers collect everything they want from your messages or catalog and send it to you as one order, without leaving the chat. They can add up to 99 units of each item, and the cart stays in the chat until they send it.[11] Each cart belongs to one chat thread on one device and clears once sent. A sent cart cannot be edited, so a customer who wants to change an order sends a new one, and only customers create carts.
When the customer sends the cart, the full order reaches your system: WhatsApp delivers an order notification to your webhook, the web address where WhatsApp sends incoming messages and events to your system.[12] The order lists the catalog, each product’s SKU (the product code you assigned in your catalog), the quantity, the item price, and the currency.
After an order arrives, you can connect your business number to the tools you already use so each order reaches your shop system, manage incoming orders as a team from a shared inbox, or use WhatsApp Flows to collect details such as a delivery address in a form inside the chat. Meta also lists product catalogs, inventory, and order status among the systems a business can link to Meta Business Agent, its AI agent for business messaging.[13]
How Do Customers Pay for a WhatsApp Order?
How customers pay depends on your market: in India and Brazil, Meta’s WhatsApp Payments API lets you request payment inside the chat, and everywhere else you take payment through your own payment provider.[14] Meta’s WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy makes your business solely responsible for your transactions and sales terms, and states that WhatsApp is not responsible for processing, paying for, or fulfilling any sales.[15]
In India, the Payments API accepts payments through every UPI app on the customer’s phone, UPI being India’s bank-to-bank payment system, plus cards, NetBanking, and wallets.[16] The business sends an order details message and gets the payment status from its payment gateway, the service that processes the payment. Businesses based in India can also send checkout button templates that let customers in India buy without leaving WhatsApp.
In Brazil, businesses send an order details message and collect payment through Pix codes, payment links, Boleto, or one-click card payments.[17] WhatsApp leaves payment reconciliation to the business, which matches each payment to its order with its payment service provider.
In other markets, including Europe, a URL button message turns any web address into a button that opens in the customer’s browser, so you can send each customer straight to your checkout or payment page.[18] WhatsApp’s Business Messaging Policy forbids asking customers to share full card numbers or financial account numbers in the chat.
What Are the Limits of Selling on WhatsApp Through the API?
Knowing these limits up front lets you plan when to send each message, what it costs, and what your catalog can hold:
- Timing: Interactive product messages go out only while the customer service window is open; outside it, you need an approved template.
- Cost: Meta charges per delivered message, by category and market, and product templates are charged as marketing messages. Since October 1, 2026, Meta charges for replies inside the customer service window, after 1,000 free service messages per business phone number each month.
- One catalog: Each WhatsApp account hierarchy holds one catalog, and every phone number in it shares that catalog.
- Policy review: Meta reviews catalog items automatically against its Commerce Policy and flags items that break it, and you can appeal a disapproved item in Commerce Manager. Meta prohibits commerce features for regulated goods and services.
- Display: Product messages sent through the Cloud API currently show no shopping cart icon in the chat header, and product detail pages show images only, with no video or GIF.
Every limit on this list sits around the same fact: The customer builds the order, and your business owns everything after it arrives. How much of that work you hand to software decides the tool you need.
If you want a ready-made tool that shares your product catalog and sends order updates on WhatsApp with no coding, find the right solution among the partner solutions in our Marketplace.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Many Products Can a WhatsApp Catalog Hold?
A WhatsApp catalog has no limit on the number of products it can hold, according to our documentation, and we recommend 100 items per catalog so customers can browse it comfortably. Each message has its own cap: A multi-product message shows up to 30 products, and a product carousel shows up to 10 product cards.
Do I Need the WhatsApp Business App or the API to Use Catalogs?
Both the WhatsApp Business app and the WhatsApp Business Platform support catalogs and product messages. Through the API, your software sends catalog and product messages and receives each order as a notification, so orders can flow into your own systems. Meta notes one visible difference: Product messages sent through the Cloud API currently show no shopping cart icon in the chat header, while messages sent from the WhatsApp Business app do.
Do WhatsApp Catalogs Sync with My Existing E-Commerce Platform?
A WhatsApp catalog is a Meta catalog, so if your store already sends products to a Meta catalog, you can connect that same catalog to WhatsApp. Otherwise, you create one in Meta Commerce Manager or through Meta’s Commerce API. Changes to a price, title, description, or image reach customers as soon as their WhatsApp app receives the update.
Is Selling on WhatsApp Available in All Countries?
Meta’s catalog and cart features follow the same Commerce Policy in every market, with extra requirements in India. Businesses selling on WhatsApp in India must add compliance information to their business profile and catalog, and Meta offers its WhatsApp Payments API in India and Brazil only; elsewhere, including Europe, you take payment through your own payment provider. In every market, Meta’s Commerce Policy applies, and selling regulated goods or services through WhatsApp commerce features is prohibited.
Sources
[1] Meta for Developers, “Multi-product messages,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/multi-product-messages/ (accessed October 2, 2026)
[2] Meta Business Help Center, “Connect a catalog to your WhatsApp Business account,” https://www.facebook.com/business/help/158662536425974 (accessed October 2, 2026)
[3] Meta for Developers, “Upload inventory,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/upload-inventory/ (accessed October 2, 2026)
[4] Meta for Developers, “Set commerce settings,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/set-commerce-settings/ (accessed October 2, 2026)
[5] 360Dialog documentation, “Catalogs,” https://docs.360dialog.com/docs/messaging/catalogs (accessed October 2, 2026)
[6] Meta for Developers, “Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing (accessed October 2, 2026)
[7] Meta for Developers, “Single-product messages,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/single-product-messages/ (accessed October 2, 2026)
[8] Meta for Developers, product template pages: catalog templates, https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/catalog-template-messages/ ; single-product templates, https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/spm-template-messages/ ; multi-product templates, https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/mpm-template-messages/ ; product card carousel templates, https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/product-card-carousel-template-messages/ (all accessed October 2, 2026)
[9] Meta for Developers, “Interactive product carousel messages,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/interactive-product-carousel-messages/ (accessed October 2, 2026)
[10] Meta for Developers, “Share products,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/share-products/ (accessed October 2, 2026)
[11] Meta for Developers, “Catalogs overview,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/catalogs-overview/ (accessed October 2, 2026)
[12] Meta for Developers, “Receive responses,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/catalogs/receive-responses/ (accessed October 2, 2026)
[13] Meta for Developers, “Meta Business Agent capabilities,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/meta-business-agent/capabilities (accessed October 2, 2026)
[14] Meta for Developers, WhatsApp Business Platform documentation, Payments navigation (Payments India, Payments Brazil), https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/overview (accessed October 5, 2026)
[15] WhatsApp Business, “WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy,” Policy for WhatsApp Commerce Features, https://whatsappbusiness.com/policy/ (accessed October 5, 2026)
[16] Meta for Developers, “Payments API India overview,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/payments/payments-in/overview/ (accessed October 2, 2026)
[17] Meta for Developers, “Payments API Brazil overview,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/payments/payments-br/overview/ (accessed October 2, 2026)
[18] Meta for Developers, “Interactive Call-to-Action URL Button Messages,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messages/interactive-cta-url-messages (accessed October 5, 2026)
