How to sell on WhatsApp with your own online store

For most small businesses in Pakistan and the Gulf, WhatsApp is the shop counter. Customers ask prices there, send photos of what they want, confirm addresses and chase their parcels. It is fast, personal and free, and nobody should give it up. But WhatsApp is a conversation, not a shop. Prices, orders and stock buried in hundreds of chats are where mistakes and lost sales come from.

The fix is to pair WhatsApp with your own online store: WhatsApp for talking, the store for everything that needs to be written down. Here is how to set that up.

Step 1: Set up WhatsApp Business properly

Use the WhatsApp Business app rather than a personal account. It is free and gives you a business profile (hours, address, website link), quick replies for common questions, labels to sort chats, and an away message for when you are closed. Put your store's address in the profile's website field so every customer who opens your profile can browse.

Step 2: Put your catalogue on a store, not in chats

Sending the same product photos and prices again and again is the biggest time sink in WhatsApp selling. Instead, list each product once on your store with photos, price, sizes and stock. Then the answer to 'price?' or 'what colours?' is a link: the customer sees everything at once and can order straight away.

• Make a quick reply for your store's home page and one for each main category.
• Share links to specific products, not just the home page. Fewer taps means more orders.
• Keep prices on the store current. A link only saves time if it is right.

Step 3: Let customers order on the store when they are ready

Many customers will happily order from the link themselves, especially outside your working hours. The order arrives complete: items, size, address, phone number and payment choice. On Biizay the checkout offers cash on delivery, which is what most WhatsApp shoppers expect.

Step 4: Record the orders that do happen in chat

Some customers will always prefer to order by message. That is fine, as long as the order is recorded somewhere other than the chat. If it is not, your stock count will be wrong and you will forget an order sooner or later.

On Biizay you can ring a chat order up on the point of sale so it comes off the same stock as your website. If you use BiiConnect, you can also paste the chat into ChatGPT or Claude and ask it to record the sale; by default it is saved as a phone sale for you to check and approve, and stock moves only once you do.

Step 5: Use broadcast lists for new stock and offers

A broadcast list sends one message to many customers, each receiving it as a private message. Only people who have saved your number receive broadcasts, so ask happy customers to save it. Send a photo and one product link per broadcast, not a wall of text, and do not overdo it: a message every week or two about genuinely new stock gets read; daily messages get muted.

Step 6: Send confirmations automatically

Messages like 'order received', 'dispatched' and 'delivered' are the ones customers ask about most. Biizay's Store emails app can send order confirmed, shipped, delivered and cancelled emails to customers as your shop, so you are not typing each one. Shipping an order can include a tracking number, so the customer can follow it.

Step 7: Answer common questions on the store itself

Delivery times, exchange policy, sizes and payment methods should be on your store, so the link you send answers them. Biizay's storefront assistant, Biity, answers shoppers' questions on your store from your own products and pages, and offers a one-tap WhatsApp link with the question already written when the customer wants a person.

Is it better to sell on WhatsApp or a website?

Both, doing different jobs. WhatsApp builds the relationship and closes the sale with people who need reassurance. The website shows everything, takes orders without waiting for you, and keeps an accurate record. Our comparison of Instagram and a website makes the same point for social selling generally.

Quick replies worth setting up

Quick replies are the WhatsApp Business feature that saves the most time once your store is live: a few typed characters bring up a saved message, so the same accurate answer goes out every time, whoever on your team is replying.

• Store link: 'You can see everything with prices here', followed by your store's address.
• Delivery: your charges, usual delivery time, and cash on delivery.
• Sizes: a link to your size chart and how to measure.
• Exchanges: your policy in two lines, with a link to the full version.
• Order received: a short thank-you with the order number and what happens next.

Keep each one short, and update them whenever your prices or policies change, or they will spread old information faster than you can correct it.

Getting started

Open a free Biizay store, add the 15 to 30 products you are asked about most, and make your first quick reply with the link. The store setup guide takes you through the first hour.