How to Set Up a WhatsApp Business Catalogue: Guide With Examples for UK SMBs

Most UK small businesses on WhatsApp are missing their biggest opportunity: the catalogue.

Instead of answering the same pricing questions over and over, you could have a professional, browsable shopfront sitting right inside the app. Customers tap your profile, see exactly what you offer, check prices, view photos — and then message you ready to buy or book.

It takes about 20 minutes to set up, it is completely free, and it works whether you sell products, run a service business, or anything in between.

This guide walks you through setting up your WhatsApp Business catalogue from scratch, with real examples for different types of UK businesses.

If you have not set up WhatsApp Business yet, start with our step-by-step setup guide first.

What is the WhatsApp Business catalogue?

The catalogue is a built-in product and service showcase inside the WhatsApp Business App. Think of it as a mini website or digital brochure that lives inside your WhatsApp profile.

When a customer opens your chat and taps your business name, they can browse your catalogue — scrolling through items with photos, descriptions, and prices. They can then tap any item to ask about it or share it with someone else.

Key things to know:

• It is not an online shop — there is no checkout or payment processing. It is a showcase that drives conversations and enquiries
• It is visible to everyone who views your business profile, and you can share individual items or your full catalogue in any chat
• It works for services too — you are not limited to physical products. List your services, packages, treatments, or menu items just like products
• It is free — no listing fees, no transaction fees, no limits on views

For UK small businesses without a website, the catalogue is the fastest way to look professional and give customers the information they need.

Who should use a catalogue?

If you find yourself answering the same questions about what you offer and how much it costs, a catalogue will save you hours every week.

Product businesses — the obvious use case. Retailers, makers, bakers, florists, and anyone selling physical goods can showcase their range with photos and prices.

Service businesses — this is where most people miss out. Tradespeople, cleaners, gardeners, consultants, and freelancers can list their services with descriptions and pricing. A plumber listing "Boiler Service — £85" or "Emergency Callout — from £95" is just as effective as a retailer listing products.

Hospitality — restaurants, cafes, and takeaways can use the catalogue as a menu. Salons and spas can list treatments and packages.

Anyone who quotes regularly — even if your prices vary, listing starting prices or price ranges in the catalogue sets expectations and filters out customers who are not a fit.

How to set up your catalogue

Here is the step-by-step process for creating your WhatsApp Business catalogue.

Catalogue best practices

Getting items into the catalogue is the easy part. Making them look professional and actually drive enquiries takes a bit more thought.

Photos matter more than anything

Your catalogue photos are the first thing customers see, and they make or break whether someone taps through to learn more.

• Use good lighting — natural daylight is best. Avoid dark, grainy, or shadowy photos
• Keep a consistent style — if all your product photos have a white background, stick with that. If you use lifestyle shots, make them all a similar tone. Consistency looks professional
• Show the real thing — do not use stock photos or heavily filtered images. Customers want to see what they are actually getting
• Use landscape or square orientation — these display best in the catalogue grid. Avoid tall, narrow portrait photos

For service businesses, before-and-after photos are incredibly effective. A tiler showing a bathroom before and after, or a gardener showing an overgrown garden transformed — these sell the work better than any description.

Write descriptions that sell

Keep descriptions short, specific, and benefit-focused. Lead with what the customer gets, not what you do.

Weak: "We provide a comprehensive plumbing inspection service using the latest equipment."

Strong: "Full boiler service and safety check. Includes gas safety certificate. 1 hour, £85 inc. VAT."

The second version tells the customer everything they need to make a decision. No fluff, no jargon.

To include prices or not?

Include prices wherever you can. UK consumers expect to see pricing, and hiding it makes people suspicious. If your price is fixed, show it. If it varies, show a "from" price — "Garden clearance — from £150" is far more useful than no price at all.

The only exception is genuinely bespoke work where prices vary dramatically based on the brief. Even then, consider showing a price range: "Kitchen installation — £5,000 to £15,000 depending on specification."

Examples by industry

Here is what a well-built catalogue looks like for different types of UK business.

Tradesperson

A plumber, electrician, or builder can list their core services with day rates or fixed prices:

• Boiler Service — "Annual gas boiler service and safety check. Includes written report and gas safety certificate. £85 inc. VAT. Book via message."
• Emergency Callout — "Available 7 days a week for plumbing emergencies. £95 call-out fee within the M25, plus parts. Response within 2 hours."
• Bathroom Refit — "Complete bathroom renovation — plumbing, tiling, fixtures, and finishing. From £3,500. Free home survey and quote."
• Day Rate — "General plumbing work. £350 per day inc. VAT. Materials charged separately. Minimum half-day booking."

Retailer

A shop, boutique, or online seller can showcase their product range:

• Handmade Soy Candle (Large) — "Hand-poured soy wax candle in a reusable glass jar. 50-hour burn time. Choose from 12 scents. £18.00."
• Gift Box — Pamper Set — "Candle, bath salts, and hand cream beautifully wrapped. Perfect for birthdays and thank-yous. £35.00 including gift wrapping."

Salon or spa

A hair salon, barber, nail tech, or spa can list treatments:

• Classic Cut & Blow Dry — "Wash, cut, and blow dry with one of our senior stylists. Approx 45 minutes. £42.00."
• Full Head Highlights — "Full head foil highlights with toner. Includes cut and blow dry. Approx 2.5 hours. From £120.00."
• Gel Manicure — "Gel polish manicure with nail prep and cuticle care. Lasts 2-3 weeks. £28.00."

Restaurant or cafe

A restaurant, takeaway, or cafe can use the catalogue as a visual menu:

• Classic Burger — "6oz beef patty, brioche bun, lettuce, tomato, house sauce. Served with fries. £12.50."
• Sunday Roast (Beef) — "Slow-roasted sirloin, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, seasonal veg, and gravy. Available Sundays 12-4pm. £16.00."

Sharing your catalogue

A catalogue is only useful if people actually see it. Here are the three main ways to share it.

On your profile

Your catalogue is automatically visible on your WhatsApp Business profile. Anyone who taps your business name at the top of a chat can browse it. Make sure your profile is complete so customers have a reason to tap through — read our setup guide if you have not done this yet.

In chats

You can share individual catalogue items directly in a conversation. When a customer asks "how much for a boiler service?", instead of typing out the details, you open the attachment menu, select Catalogue, and send the item. It appears as a rich card with the photo, name, price, and description.

This is one of the biggest time-savers of the catalogue feature. Instead of repeating yourself, you share a polished, professional item card in two taps.

Via a catalogue link

WhatsApp generates a shareable link to your full catalogue. You can copy this link and share it on your website, social media profiles, email signatures, or printed materials. Customers who click the link are taken straight to your catalogue inside WhatsApp.

Go to Settings > Business tools > Catalogue > Share to find your link.

Catalogue limits and specifications

Before you start building, here are the technical limits to be aware of:

• Maximum 500 items per catalogue
• Up to 10 photos per item
• Photos must be at least 300 x 300 pixels — higher resolution is better
• Maximum file size of 5MB per photo
• Item names can be up to 60 characters
• Descriptions can be up to 5,000 characters (but keep them short)
• Items that violate WhatsApp's commerce policy (alcohol, weapons, adult content, etc.) will be rejected during review

WhatsApp reviews catalogue items before they go live. This usually takes a few minutes, but can occasionally take up to 24 hours.

Using Collections to organise your catalogue

Once you have more than a handful of items, Collections help customers find what they need quickly. Collections are groups or categories within your catalogue.

Go to Settings > Business tools > Catalogue > Collections to create them.

Example collections for a salon:

• Haircuts
• Colour treatments
• Nail services
• Facials and skin

Example collections for a tradesperson:

• Boiler services
• Bathroom work
• Emergency repairs
• General plumbing

Example collections for a restaurant:

• Starters
• Mains
• Desserts
• Drinks

Customers can browse your full catalogue or tap into a specific collection. It works like the categories on a website — it makes a large catalogue manageable and helps people find what they are looking for without scrolling through everything.

Common mistakes to avoid

Blurry or poorly lit photos

Nothing kills credibility faster than dark, grainy, or blurry product photos. If you cannot take a good photo with your phone, wait for natural daylight or ask someone who can. One great photo is better than five bad ones.

No prices listed

Leaving prices blank makes customers assume you are expensive or hiding something. Even approximate pricing is better than nothing. "From £50" gives people enough to decide whether to enquire.

Too many items with no organisation

Dumping 200 items into a flat catalogue with no collections is overwhelming. Customers will not scroll through the whole thing. Use collections to break items into logical groups, and consider whether you actually need 200 items or whether 30 well-curated items would be more effective.

Copy-paste descriptions

Every item should have a unique, specific description. Copying the same generic text across multiple items wastes the description field and makes your catalogue look lazy.

Outdated items

If you no longer offer a service or a product is out of stock, remove it from the catalogue. Nothing frustrates customers more than enquiring about something that is not available. Review your catalogue monthly and keep it current.

Catalogue vs website — when you need both

A WhatsApp Business catalogue is a brilliant tool, but it is not a replacement for a website in every situation.

Use the catalogue if you are a small operation, you do not have a website yet, and most of your customers find you through word of mouth or social media. The catalogue gives you a professional way to showcase what you offer without the cost or complexity of building a website.

Use both if you want search engine traffic, need to take payments online, or want detailed product pages with specifications and reviews. Link your catalogue items to the relevant pages on your website so customers can tap through for more detail.

The best approach for most UK SMBs is to start with the catalogue, get it working, and add a website later if you need one. A polished WhatsApp catalogue beats a half-finished website every time.

Wrapping up

The WhatsApp Business catalogue is one of the most underused features available to UK small businesses. It takes 20 minutes to set up, costs nothing, and gives your customers a professional, browsable view of everything you offer — right inside the app they already use every day.

To get the most from it:

1. Add your core products or services with clear photos, honest prices, and concise descriptions
2. Organise items into Collections so customers can browse by category
3. Share catalogue items in chats instead of typing the same information repeatedly
4. Keep it current — remove old items, update prices, and add new offerings regularly
5. Link to your website on each item if you have one, so customers can get more detail

Combined with a well-built profile and automated messages, your catalogue turns WhatsApp into a genuine sales channel — not just a messaging app.

For more on getting WhatsApp Business working for your UK business, head back to our complete WhatsApp Business guide.