WhatsApp Catalogue Setup: Full Step-by-Step Guide

Picture this: a candle seller lists her products just as “Candle 1,” “Candle 2,” and “Candle 3.” Buyers keep messaging to ask what each one smells like. She renames them “Vanilla Bean Candle, 200g” and similar. Questions drop, and orders start coming in faster, straight from the catalogue.

Small detail. Big difference.

A Note for Sellers in India

If your business is based in India, WhatsApp asks for a few extra fields on top of the usual ones:

• Country of origin
• Importer name
• Importer address

These exist to meet local e-commerce rules. If you skip them, your catalogue items may get stuck in review.

Route 2: Setting Up Your Catalogue Through the API (Meta Commerce Manager)

This route is different. Instead of adding items by hand, you connect a product feed, a file that lists all your products at once.

Here is how it works, broken into simple stages.

Stage 1: Create your catalogue in Meta Commerce Manager. Go to Meta’s Commerce Manager and create a new catalogue under your Meta Business Portfolio.

Stage 2: Upload your product feed. This can be a spreadsheet, or better, an automatic feed from your store (Shopify, WooCommerce, or similar). The feed updates your catalogue automatically whenever your stock changes.

Stage 3: Connect the catalogue to your WhatsApp Business Account. Inside WhatsApp Manager, link the catalogue you just created to your business number.

Stage 4: Test it. Send yourself a test message with a product attached. Check that the price, image, and details all show up correctly.

If you already sell on Shopify, this part gets much easier. Our guide on the best Shopify apps for WhatsApp API walks through connecting your store feed directly, so products sync without manual work.

Picture this: a shoe brand with 300 SKUs tries adding products by hand through the app. It takes the team almost two full days. After switching to a feed-based catalogue through Commerce Manager, new stock starts appearing on WhatsApp automatically, the same day it lands on the website.

That is the real value of the API route. You stop doing double work.

The Limits You Need to Know

These numbers matter. Hit one of these limits, and your catalogue simply stops accepting new items until you fix it.

• 500 products maximum per catalogue
• One catalogue per WhatsApp Business Account. You cannot run two separate catalogues on one number
• Up to 10 images or 1 video per product
• Product descriptions can run up to 5,000 characters, though shorter usually reads better on a phone screen

Running close to 500 products? Archive anything discontinued instead of leaving it cluttering your list.

What You Cannot Sell: The Commerce Policy

This part gets skipped in a lot of guides, and it is the reason many catalogues get flagged or, in serious cases, why whole accounts get restricted.

Meta’s Commerce Policy applies to every WhatsApp catalogue. It bans certain categories outright, and restricts others depending on your country.

Fully banned, no exceptions:

• Weapons, ammunition, and explosives
• Illegal drugs
• Adult content and services
• Animal parts from endangered species, or live animal sales
• Counterfeit goods
• Digital or downloadable products, including e-books, courses, and game currency

Restricted, allowed only with approval or in specific regions:

• Alcohol (requires licensing and age-gating, and is not permitted at all in many countries)
• Tobacco and vaping products
• Supplements and certain health products
• Real-money gambling services

Here is the part people miss most: even if something is fully legal to sell in your country, like alcohol with a proper license, WhatsApp’s catalogue and payment features still might not allow it. You may be able to chat with customers and take manual orders, but the built-in catalogue listing itself could stay off-limits.

If you are unsure whether your product qualifies, check before you list it. A rejected item is a minor delay. A restricted business account is a much bigger problem.

Common Mistakes That Get Catalogues Rejected

Save yourself the back-and-forth. These are the usual culprits.

1. Blurry or watermarked photos. Clean, well-lit images get approved faster.
2. Vague product names. “Item 1” tells nobody anything.
3. Missing required fields, especially for sellers in India.
4. Text overlays on images. Heavy branding or price stickers on the photo itself often triggers a review flag.
5. Listing a restricted item without checking the policy first.

Fix these before you upload, and most items sail through review without a hitch.

Sharing Your Catalogue: Turning Setup Into Sales

Building the catalogue is half the job. Getting it in front of customers is the other half.

A few simple ways to share it:

• Pin your catalogue link inside your WhatsApp bio.
• Send a specific product straight into an ongoing chat when someone asks “how much?”
• Add the catalogue link to your Instagram or Facebook bio.
• Include it in your greeting message, so first-time chatters see it right away.

If you are also using automated messages, like order confirmations or promotions, alongside your catalogue, it helps to understand how WhatsApp classifies each message type. Our guide on WhatsApp message templates explained breaks down marketing, utility, and authentication templates in plain terms.

And one more thing worth knowing: a verified badge next to your business name builds extra trust the moment someone opens your catalogue. If you have not looked into that yet, here is our full breakdown of WhatsApp Blue Tick verification.