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WhatsApp Business API for eCommerce – WhatsApp Catalog API (Step by Step Guide)

      The WhatsApp Catalog API lets WhatsApp businesses showcase their products and/or services to their end-users in the form of a catalog and receive orders with the help of the ‘Add to Cart’ feature.  

Here’s how it looks like-

   

Multi-Product message example

     

Menu triggered when user clicks on Start Shopping

         

Single Product message example

   

Product Detail Page example

 

Steps to use the Product Catalog on WhatsApp Business API –

 

1.Creates a catalog on the Commerce Manager.

 

2.Assign the Catalog to your WhatsApp Business Account (only one Catalog allowed per WABA).

 

3.Business then sends single or multiple product messages to customers using the Catalog API.

 

4.Receive responses from customers via Webhooks.

    Note: If the WABA is Indian (+91 phone number), the business’s e-commerce compliance is necessary.   Please read – How to comply with the laws for selling online in India using WhatsApp Business API  

Step 1:Create a Catalog on the Commerce Manager

A catalog can be created in 2 ways –  

1.Using the API

2.Using the Commerce Manager Interface

  In this article, we will discuss the second approach to use the Commerce Manager Interface to create a Catalog and upload your inventory of items- You can follow this process.

Create a New Catalog

1.

Go to Commerce Manager.

2.

Start creating your catalogue:

1. If this will be your first catalogue, click Get Started. Select Create a catalogue and then click Get Started.

2. If you already have at least one catalogue, you’ll see all of your catalogues listed. Select + Add Catalogue to create a new one.

3.

Select the type of inventory you advertise or sell, then click Next.

4.

E-commerce (products) only: Choose how you want to add items to your catalogue:

1. Select Upload product info if you plan to add items yourself in Commerce Manager.

2. Select Connect a partner platform if you host your items on a partner platform that has an integration with Facebook. Select a platform and follow the link to its website to complete setup and import items to Facebook. Learn more about importing items from a partner platform.

 

5.

Select the Business Manager account that your catalogue belongs to. This unlocks more ways to use your catalogue than selecting a personal account and enables you to assign other people permission to work on the catalogue. To select a Business Manager account, you must be a business admin.

6.

Enter a name for your catalogue.

7.

Click Create.  

Now, you can add items to your Catalog.

Add items in Commerce Manager

There are three main ways to add items to your catalogue in Commerce Manager:
  • Manual: Add items using a manual form in Commerce Manager.
  • Data feed: Upload a data feed (spreadsheet file) to add items in bulk. You can upload a file once or set up scheduled uploads to happen on a regular basis. We support CSV, TSV and XML file formats as well as Google Sheets.
  • Facebook pixel: Import and update items automatically from your website. This method is more complex to set up. You may need help from a developer to install microdata tags on your website.
  Once you’ve added the items to your Catalog, this is what it looks like-      

Items added in your Catalog under Commerce Manager

 

Step 2: Assign the Catalog to your WhatsApp Account

On your Facebook Business Settings Page, look for your WhatsApp Account and click on “WhatsApp Manager”.        

Navigate to WhatsApp Manager from Facebook Business Settings Page

  On WhatsApp Manager, click on “Catalog” from the left navigation.          

Click on “Choose Catalog”.

     

Click on “Connect Catalog” after selecting the Catalog.

   

Once the Catalog is connected, this is the view.

   

Step 3: Send Product Messages using API

Both Single-Product and Multi-Product Messages are a part of the “interactive message” under WhatsApp APIs.  

The Official Guide to sending these messages can be found here.

To set up the API, you must get the latest Postman Collection from this link.

 

On the Postman Collection, these APIs are available under the “Messages” folder.

                                           

To send the product messages, you would require the below parameters.

     
  • catalog_id – You can find it on your Commerce Manager. After selecting your catalog, you can copy the Catalog ID from your browser URL as follows.
           

Finding catalog ID from Commerce Manager on Facebook

 
  • product_retailer_id – This is found on the Commerce Manager below each item.
     

Finding product_retailer_id from Commerce Manager on Facebook

 

Sending Single Product Message

  API Request Sample-        

API Request & Response for Single Product Message

     

Sample Single Product Message received via API

 

Sending Multi-Product Message

API Request Sample-

           

Multi-Product Message Example

      The above guide has been prepared to assume you have access to WhatsApp’s Official Business APIs from a WhatsApp API Provider. If you do not have access to WhatsApp APIs, you can get the same very easily.