How to create a product catalog on the WhatsApp Business app

Mohamed Elbadwihi
Last updated October 5, 2023
How to create a product catalog on the WhatsApp Business app

What’s a WhatsApp product catalog?

WhatsApp catalogs (or ‘catalogues’, depending on your location) make it easier for customers to buy from you. They’re a great way to showcase your products inside WhatsApp, allowing your customers to browse your store without leaving the chat. They can then add items to a cart, and send that cart to you over WhatsApp.

In this blog post, we’re going to create a simple product catalog on WhatsApp. It takes about 10 minutes. Keep in mind that before your catalog goes online, the WhatsApp team will need to review it, to ensure that your products don’t violate any of their policies.

Let’s get started!

What you need

  1. A WhatsApp Business mobile app account (Read this)
  2. Pictures and descriptions of your products
  3. 10 minutes of free time

Step 1: Open Catalog Manager

1.1 Open your WhatsApp Business app

WhatsApp Business app on a mobile phone screen.

1.2 Click on Business tools

Business tools on WhatsApp Business app.

1.3 Select Catalogue (Or ‘Catalog’)

Selecting Catalog in WhatsApp Business app tools.

1.4 WhatsApp will take a few seconds to prepare your catalog before you can add items to it.

Preparing the WhatsApp product catalog.

Step 2: Add items to your catalog

2.1 When your catalog is ready, select + Add new item

Adding items to WhatsApp Business catalog.

2.2 Add information about your product:

  • Name
  • Price 
  • Description (Optional)
  • Link to the product on your website
  • Item code

When you’re done, select Save

Adding information about the products in the WhatsApp product catalog.

Step 3: Wait for approval

3.1 All catalog items require approval from WhatsApp. This can take up to a few hours.

A message that the item is being reviewed by WhatsApp

3.2 Once approved, your product will be visible to your customers

WhatsApp product catalog.

3.3 Add more products to your catalog. You can have up to 500 items.

WhatsApp product catalog.

Step 4: Preview your catalog

To view your catalog, go to your WhatsApp Business profile. You can do this from your own number, or ask a friend to test it out. This is what the profile should look like once there’s a catalog in place:

Preview of WhatsApp product catalog.

Single product in WhatsApp product catalog.

Bonus: Catalog collections

If you have multiple product categories, collections are a great way to organize your catalog on WhatsApp. 

In your catalog manager, select Add new collection:

Adding WhatsApp product catalog collections.

Enter the name of your collection. In this case, I’ve entered Fiction for my book store:

Naming a WhatsApp product catalog collection.

Once you’ve selected products for your collection, it will once again require approval from the WhatsApp team. This should not take more than a few minutes, but it can be longer.

A message from WhatsApp that the collection is being reviewed.

Your collection will appear on the main page of your catalog, as follows:

Collections in the WhatsApp product catalog.

That’s it! You now have an organized catalog of products that your contacts and customers can browse through whenever they visit your WhatsApp profile.

Bonus: Enable shopping cart for your customers

With WhatsApp catalogs, customers can select the products they wish to buy or enquire about, and can add them to a shopping cart. They can then send this cart to you as a WhatsApp message.

You can enable or disable this feature from

Catalog Manager → ⁝ (top right menu) → Settings → Show add to cart button

Enabling shopping cart in WhatsApp product catalog.

That’s it! Your customers can now add your products to a cart and send it to you as a WhatsApp message!

Learn more

If you’d like to learn more about how WhatsApp can help you grow your business, please reach out to us on WhatsApp at: +13024070488

We also offer a free consultation session where we go through your use case, answer any questions you have about WhatsApp, and help you build a strategy to make the best out of the platform. Book a call with us here. We’d love to speak you:

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About the author
Mohamed Elbadwihi

Mohamed has a background in digital enterprise strategy and software engineering. When he’s not staring at his computer screen, he can be found staring at the night sky somewhere in Alberta, Canada, where he moved a year ago. He enjoys reading, and writing about the things he reads.

@Mohamed Elbadwihi