How to Create a WhatsApp Store: Step-by-Step Setup Guide

This guide shows how to create a WhatsApp store that opens inside the chat, takes the order and sends every update back to the same conversation. The steps follow the real screens of Chatmizer's WhatsApp Store, tab by tab. If you are still choosing between a catalog, a website and a store in the chat, start with what WhatsApp commerce is.

What you need before you create a WhatsApp store

• A WhatsApp number for the business, which you will connect to Chatmizer.
• A plan that includes WhatsApp Store: it is on the Growth plan and above, and there is a plan just for the store. See pricing.
• Product photos and prices, plus the sizes, colours and extras you sell.
• How you get paid: cash on delivery, a bank account or wallet, or a Stripe, Paymob or PayPal account.
• Your delivery rules: fees, free-delivery threshold, minimum order and the times you deliver.
• The owner or an admin of the workspace: only they can open and change a store.

Step 1: Connect your WhatsApp number

1. 1Open Channels in Chatmizer and connect your WhatsApp Business number.
2. 2Send it a test message from another phone and check it arrives in Live Inbox.

Step 2: Create the store

1. 1Go to WhatsApp Store in the menu (under Tools).
2. 2Type the store's name. The address fills in from it; change it if you like, using lowercase letters, numbers and dashes.
3. 3Check the currency. Every price in the store will be in it, and it is fixed once the store has products.
4. 4Add the WhatsApp number customers should reach and a short line about the store.
5. 5Press Create store. It stays a draft until you publish it.

Step 3: Add your logo, cover and colours

In the Store tab, upload a square logo and a wide cover picture, then use Move picture to choose which part of the cover shows. Under Colours, pick a ready palette or your own brand colour for buttons. Colours that would make text hard to read are refused, and the preview shows what customers will see. The store works in English and in Arabic, right-to-left, so it reads naturally for customers in both.

Step 4: Build the catalogue and categories

1. 1Open the Catalogue tab and add categories the way customers browse, such as Shoes, Bags and Offers. A product can sit in more than one.
2. 2Press Add product: a name, a price and up to 8 photos. The first photo is the main one.
3. 3Selling sizes or colours? Add an option such as Size with S, M and L. Each combination gets its own row for price, stock and SKU, or can be switched off.
4. 4Add add-ons for extras like gift wrap, and choose whether one must be picked.
5. 5Have a big list? Press Import CSV to add up to 200 products at once, using the template.

Step 5: Choose how customers pay

• Cash on delivery: add it in the Payments tab with Add a payment method.
• Bank transfer, InstaPay, wallets, QR codes or your own payment link: add your details and keep Ask for proof of payment on. The customer uploads a screenshot and your team checks it before the order counts as paid.
• Cards: press Connect Stripe, Connect Paymob or Connect PayPal and link your own account. Stripe works in most countries, Paymob in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and PayPal needs only your PayPal email but does not take EGP, SAR or AED.
• Start in Test mode, pay with a test card, then switch to Live. An order turns paid only when the gateway confirms the exact amount.

The money goes from your customer to your accounts. Chatmizer takes no commission and never holds it; your gateway charges its usual fees.

Step 6: Set up checkout

• Checkout tab: switch on Delivery, Pickup or Digital, and set the delivery fee, free delivery from an amount, and a minimum order.
• Delivery and pickup times: list your slots, how many days ahead, your preparation time and closed days. Customers pick a day and a slot.
• Discounts tab: press Add a code for a percent off, an amount off or free delivery, or set a discount to apply automatically.
• What the customer types: their name. Their WhatsApp number is filled in for them, and their cart is kept if they leave.

Step 7: Publish the store to your WhatsApp number

1. 1Open the Publish tab and press Publish store. It needs at least one product switched on, a way to get paid and a way to receive orders; if something is missing, it tells you what.
2. 2In the same tab, switch on the WhatsApp numbers this store answers on and press Save numbers.
3. 3In the Chat tab, pick the languages, write your welcome words if you like, choose the menu buttons and the follow-ups, and press Save chat. The preview shows exactly what customers get.

From now on, every message to that number gets the welcome card with an Open the store button, then Shop, My orders and Talk to us, in the customer's language. Talk to us hands the chat to your team; the customer types bot to get the automatic replies back. On a number attached to a store, the store answers first, so your flows and AI agent stop replying there.

Step 8: Share your wa.me link and QR code

• Copy the number's wa.me link from the Publish tab and put it in your Instagram bio, your ads and your posts.
• Download the QR code for the shop counter, packaging, flyers and delivery bags.
• On the plans that include it, switch on WhatsApp Store in your AI agent's tools, so the agent sends the store button when someone asks what you sell.

Step 9: Place a test order

1. 1From another phone, open the wa.me link and say hi. You should get the welcome card.
2. 2Tap Open the store, add a product, and check out with the payment method you want to test.
3. 3Back in the chat, check the receipt card and its View invoice button.
4. 4Find the order on your board and move it along, watching each update arrive in the chat.

Step 10: Work orders on the order board

Orders arrive under Orders in four lanes: New, Confirmed, On the way and Done. Each has one button: Confirm, then Prepare & send, then Mark delivered. Switch on Autopilot to confirm orders that owe nothing and close deliveries after the time you set. A transfer order shows Payment OK and Payment wrong. In Order settings, choose which updates the customer gets (confirmed, packing, delivered, cancelled) and edit their English and Arabic headlines; after delivery, the customer can rate the order with stars in the chat. Updates go inside the 24-hour window; for later ones, add an approved WhatsApp template. Insights shows sales and best sellers, and Backups keep a copy of the store with its pictures.

Mistakes to avoid after you create a WhatsApp store

• Marking transfers paid without checking: always open the screenshot first.
• Leaving the store open when you are closed: pause orders from the Store tab; the link stays up and shows closed for now.
• Changing the store address after sharing it: old links stop opening.
• Sending promotions to everyone: follow the habits in how to sell on WhatsApp and message only people who opted in.
• Skipping the guides: the WhatsApp Store guides in the help center cover every tab in more detail.