How to Create a WhatsApp Catalog: A Small Business Guide

A customer messages you: "Do you have a price list?" You pick up your phone, open your photo gallery, dig out three pictures, then type the prices in a separate message. The next customer asks the same thing. You do the whole thing again from scratch. The WhatsApp catalog is a simple fix for a loop that small business owners live through every single day.

That loop is exactly what the catalog exists to break. You put your products and services into a storefront that sits inside WhatsApp itself; customers can browse it on their own, or you can send items over with one tap. In this guide we'll cover how to create a WhatsApp catalog, what's worth putting in it, what isn't, and where people most often get stuck — in plain language.

What is a WhatsApp catalog, and what is it for?

The catalog is a feature that lives among the business tools in the WhatsApp Business app. For each product or service you add an image, a name, and — optionally — a price, a description and a link. All of it sits under your profile.

The benefit starts here: when a customer messages you, they don't have to go off to a separate website to see what you sell. They never leave the app. The storefront is right where the conversation is happening. The path to a buying decision gets shorter.

The second benefit gets talked about less, but I think it matters more: you stop typing the same thing for the hundredth time. A price question comes in, you send the catalog item, done. Picture a business that gets 30 messages a day — a good chunk of those are some version of "how much is this?" The catalog works like a sponge that soaks up that repetition.

Third: a catalog is also a memory. When a new member of staff starts, where do they learn the products and the prices? The catalog becomes a shared reference.

Who does a catalog help, and who does it not?

Let's be honest: not every business needs one.

Where a catalog earns its keep: businesses that sell with images. Florists, bakeries, used car dealers, furniture shops, boutiques, dry cleaning packages, a tattoo studio's portfolio. If the customer wants to see it with their own eyes, a catalog is a sound investment.

Where a catalog runs out of road: services priced individually for every job. In removals, accountancy or legal advice, writing a single price is hard. But even here the catalog can work as a "service menu" — instead of a price, you write what's included.

So the question isn't "should I set up a catalog?" It's "what am I going to put in mine?"

How to create a WhatsApp catalog

Let's be clear about something: WhatsApp changes its interface often, and menu names and locations can differ by version and by device. So rather than giving you a click-path to memorise, I'll explain the logic — know the logic and you'll find the menu wherever it's hiding.

1. Make sure you're in the right app

The catalog lives in the WhatsApp Business app, not regular WhatsApp. If you're using personal WhatsApp, you'll need to switch to the business version first. Your number can stay the same.

2. Find the business tools section

WhatsApp Business gathers its business-specific tools into one section in settings — profile, automated messages, labels and the catalog usually sit there together. Look for a heading along the lines of "Business tools". If you can't find it, try searching settings for the word "catalog".

3. Add your first item

When you add a new product or service, these are the basic fields you'll be asked for:

• Image: at least one photo. You can add several.
• Name: what the product or service is called.
• Price: optional, you can leave it blank.
• Description: details like what's included, contents, duration.
• Link / product code: the page on your website, or a stock code, if you have one.

Once you complete and save one item, the catalog exists. There's no separate "create a catalog" step — the catalog is born the moment you add your first product.

4. Wait for it to go live

The images and descriptions you add may go through a review on WhatsApp's side. If your product doesn't appear straight away, don't panic; a short checking period is normal.

5. Share the catalog

Once it's up, customers can see it from your profile and you can send individual items inside a chat. You can copy the link to the catalog, or to a single product, and drop it in your Instagram bio, your Google Business Profile, or a text message.

One of the most practical ways to share it is to pair it with a WhatsApp link. For the details, see our guide to creating a WhatsApp link (wa.me).

What belongs in a catalog — and what doesn't

This part matters more than the setup. Because a bad catalog generates more questions than no catalog at all.

Should I show prices?

This is the most common question, and there's no single right answer.

Show prices if your pricing is clear and fixed. A shirt at the dry cleaner's, a slice of cake at the bakery, a package at a driving school. Hiding the price can leave a customer hesitating; some people who can't see a price will quietly give up rather than ask.

Don't show prices if pricing varies. With removals, the distance, the volume and the number of floors decide the price. Put a random number there and the customer anchors to it — then when you quote the real figure, the haggling starts. In that case it's more honest to add a note to the description like "final price confirmed after survey". For how to build a quoting flow when pricing is variable, our piece on a WhatsApp quote system for removal companies is a good example.

Image quality

Don't use photos that are dark, blurry, or have another company's logo on them. A phone camera is more than enough — all you need is daylight and a plain background. Put the product in the middle of the frame and clear away the clutter around it.

Naming

Names like "Product 1" or "Model A" tell nobody anything. Use the words a customer would actually search for: "White Shirt — Wash + Press". The search inside the catalog runs on these names too.

Fewer, but right

A sprawling, bloated catalog usually does less work than a small, tidy one — the customer doesn't know what to look for. Lead with your best sellers, your most-asked-about items and your higher-margin lines. A crowded window tends to produce customers who can't decide.

Keeping it current: this is the real job

Setting up a catalog is half an hour's work. Keeping it alive is the hard part.

If something out of stock is still sitting in the catalog, the customer asks for it, you say "sorry, we're out", and trust takes a knock. If an old price is still there, the customer puts a screenshot of it in front of you.

A practical habit: fifteen minutes, once a month. Put a recurring reminder in your calendar. Have prices changed, has anything sold out, has anything new come in — three questions, fifteen minutes.

When you raise your prices, treat updating the catalog as part of the price change itself. Changing the label and forgetting the catalog is the most common slip.

The catalog won't talk for you

Let's say this plainly: a catalog is a passive storefront. It doesn't answer questions, it goes quiet when someone asks "which one is right for me?", and it ignores whoever messages at midnight.

In real life the conversation goes like this:

— I looked at the catalog, there are two packages. What's the difference? — How long does the second one take? — Are you available Saturday?

A catalog can't answer any of those three. You answer them — if you're at work. If you're not, the customer waits, and usually doesn't wait, and messages someone else.

This is where an AI assistant comes in. WpAsis connects to your business's existing WhatsApp line and replies to incoming messages on your behalf, around the clock. It's fed by your own knowledge base — your website gets crawled, your product and service details go into the system — so the answers are specific to you, not generic. It can take appointments and orders, and answer frequently asked questions. You watch the conversations from the panel and step in whenever you want.

So: the catalog builds the window, the assistant talks to the customer standing in front of it. Together, the job gets finished.

For the assistant to answer correctly, it needs a decent information foundation. We walked through how to prepare one, step by step, in how to build a business knowledge base.

Common mistakes

Setting it up and forgetting it. If prices from six months ago are still sitting there, the catalog is hurting you.

Filling it with everything. You don't have to include everything you sell. A catalog is a shop window, not a stock list.

Being inconsistent about prices. Showing a price on some items but not others makes customers wonder, "is the expensive stuff the bit they're hiding?" Pick a policy and stick to it.

Treating the catalog as a channel on its own. A catalog isn't a marketing tool in itself. Customers need a route to it: a QR code in the shop, your Instagram bio, your Google Business Profile. Our piece on collecting WhatsApp customers with a QR code covers that side well.

Mixing in personal data. Don't put customer names, reference details or personal data into catalog descriptions. Under the GDPR and equivalent data protection laws, that's risky. For anything definitive here we'd recommend speaking to a specialist; for the general picture, take a look at our article on GDPR and WhatsApp.

Where to start

Do three things today:

1. Write down your five most-asked-about products or services on a piece of paper.
2. Take one photo of each in daylight.
3. Add them as catalog items from the business tools section of WhatsApp Business.

A catalog that starts with five items is infinitely better than a perfect catalog that never got started. The rest comes with time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a WhatsApp catalog cost anything?

No, there's no separate charge for the catalog feature in the WhatsApp Business app. Once you've downloaded the business app and connected your number, the catalog is available to you. Your only cost is the time you spend preparing your product photos.

Can I create a catalog in regular WhatsApp?

The catalog is a business-oriented feature, so it isn't in the personal version of WhatsApp. To use it you'll need to move to the WhatsApp Business app. During the switch you can keep your existing number and usually your chat history; it's worth taking a backup before you start.

Why isn't my catalog product showing?

Products you add can go through a review process on WhatsApp's side, and that can take a little time. If your product still isn't visible after a while, there's a chance the image or the description has been caught by the platform's rules. Try simplifying the image and reworking the description, then submit again.

Do I have to put a price in the catalog?

No, the price field is optional. If your pricing is fixed, filling it in reassures customers and cuts down on unnecessary questions. If your pricing varies job by job, it's healthier to leave it blank and add a clear note to the description like "final price confirmed after survey" — that way you don't create the wrong expectation.

Your catalog builds the shop window — but who talks to the customer standing in front of it asking questions? WpAsis connects to your WhatsApp line and answers incoming messages on your behalf, 24/7, taking appointments and orders. For a free demo and current pricing, visit wpasis.com.