Use Catalogues to maintain products and handle orders taken from connected channels or entered by your team. A shop can start unpublished, so you can prepare its products before connecting a customer-facing channel.
For example, a homeware shop can list mugs, take a telephone order for three, link the customer's chat, and track payment and dispatch from the order record.
Prepare the catalogue
You need catalogue viewing permission to browse and management permission to create products, change orders, or request payments. Connected WhatsApp accounts also restrict which catalogues you can access. Online collection needs a configured, compatible Selcom gateway for the order currency.
- Open Catalogues and select New catalogue.
- Enter Name, select Vertical, and optionally add Description.
- Under Publish it, leave Don't publish yet — just create the shop while preparing. To publish immediately, choose an available platform and its account where required.
- Select Create catalogue. Open the catalogue and choose Manage products, then Add product.
- Enter the product name, price, currency, availability, and description. Add an image and optional brand, category, or product URL. Supply an existing SKU or leave it blank for Momo to generate one.
- Select Create product, then check the saved product and its sync state.
Price (cents) uses 100 units per currency unit. For TZS 12,000, enter 1200000 and set Cur. to TZS. Check the formatted price after saving.
Already have a Meta catalogue? Use Connect existing, select the WhatsApp Business Account, and choose the available catalogue. Import products handles product-file imports; Sync from Meta refreshes a connected Meta catalogue. These are different operations.
Take and progress an order
Open Orders. Filter by status or search the customer's name or phone before creating another record.
For a telephone or walk-in sale, select Place an order, choose Catalogue, enter Customer name, Phone, and an optional Note, then select products and quantities. Review the total and select Place order. Prices come from the catalogue; correct a product's price before placing the order.
Open the order to check Order Items, quantities, currency, and customer details. Use Link to a chat when the order belongs to an existing conversation. Check the customer and channel before selecting a match.
Under Update Status, record the actual stage: pending, confirmed, processing, shipped, delivered, cancelled, or refunded. Status changes record progress; they do not arrange shipping or physically fulfil the order. Selecting refunded does not issue a payment refund.
Customer status messages depend on catalogue notification settings and a usable conversation. For WhatsApp, check the open reply window. Read the result after updating: the status can save even when the customer could not be messaged.
Collect and reconcile the money
Under Collect payment, Request payment sends payment choices to the linked chat. Or choose a method for them lets you select a mobile money prompt, payment link, or lipa number. For a phone prompt, confirm Phone and select Send directly; it can work without a chat.
Check Payment attempts and wait for Paid. A prompt, link, or manually confirmed order is not proof of payment.
Use the order's payment history to compare the original reference, amount, currency and provider outcome. Where your workspace provides a Wallet, check its displayed balance and movement history before requesting a payout. Follow the approval and payout states shown there; a request alone does not confirm that money reached your bank or mobile account.
Customer collections and Billing service credit have different purposes. Do not treat an order marked confirmed, a pending collection or a requested payout as available messaging credit. The Payments guide explains how to follow customer payment requests and their outcomes.
If products are missing, clear account filters and inspect sync errors. If collection fails, check the gateway, currency, phone, and linked chat. Compare the existing payment attempt before requesting payment again.
Walk through a small order before launch
Create one test product, check its formatted price, and place a small order with a controlled customer identity. Compare unit price, quantity and total before changing the order state. If online payment is part of your process, use the payment provider's supported testing approach and inspect the resulting payment attempt.
Next, test an exception: an unavailable item, a customer changing quantity before confirmation, or a collection attempt that remains pending. Decide who resolves each case and where the explanation is recorded. Keep the order reference in any related conversation so another colleague can find the right sale.
Before telling a customer that an order is ready, confirm the real fulfilment step happened. A saved status is the team's record of an event; it cannot check stock or dispatch goods by itself.
At the end of the day, compare completed orders with their payment states and unresolved attempts. Investigate mismatches using the original references rather than creating replacement orders that hide the history.