WhatsApp Business Catalogue vs Your Own Website: What Home Sellers Should Use
Most home businesses in India start on WhatsApp. Customers already use it every day, and the WhatsApp Business app lets you add a catalogue of your products. So do you still need a website?
The honest answer: the catalogue is a good place to start, and a website is what lets you grow. Most sellers end up using both. Here is how they compare.
What the WhatsApp Business catalogue does well
- It is free and inside an app your customers already have.
- Customers can browse a few products without leaving the chat.
- It is quick to set up with photos, prices and short descriptions.
Where the catalogue falls short
- No real checkout. Customers still message you to confirm, ask for your UPI ID and send a payment screenshot. You check every payment by hand.
- No delivery address form. You copy every address from the chat, and mistakes happen.
- Sizes and options are hard. A kurti in five sizes and four colours, each with a different price, is difficult to show clearly.
- Customers outside your contacts cannot find it. It does not show up on Google, and people who do not have your number never see it.
- No order list. Orders are spread across chats, so it is easy to miss one or forget who has paid.
What your own website adds
- A checkout: the customer chooses size and colour, adds to cart, enters the address and pays by UPI, or picks Cash on Delivery.
- Automatic payment confirmation: UPI payments are confirmed for you, so there are no screenshots to check.
- One list of orders: every order with its status, from pending to delivered, and the customer's details.
- Found on Google: your store and products can show in search, so new customers find you.
- Your own link: one link for your Instagram bio, Facebook Page and WhatsApp status.
How to use both together
We wrote more about this in Selling on WhatsApp in India: the complete guide and How to automate WhatsApp orders for your shop.
- Keep WhatsApp for talking to customers: questions, updates and offers.
- Put your store link in your WhatsApp Business profile, your status and your auto-reply.
- When someone asks "price?", reply with the product's link from your store.
- Get every new order as a WhatsApp alert, so you still work from your phone.
Which should you use?
- Just starting, a handful of orders a week: the WhatsApp catalogue is fine.
- More than a few orders a day, many sizes or colours, or you want new customers beyond your contacts: add a website and keep WhatsApp for chatting.
A website that works with WhatsApp
Ownezzy stores are made for WhatsApp sellers: new orders come to your WhatsApp, customers can pay by UPI or choose Cash on Delivery, and you manage everything from your phone. Pick a design on ownezzy.com/websites and try it free for 7 days. After that it is ₹399 a month with 0% commission.