What the catalog feature actually does
WhatsApp's catalog and commerce features let a customer casually browse products, see their details and pricing, and build out orders inside the same conversation they're having. Instead of asking what's available and having to manually type out what's on offer or share images one by one, a catalog lives inside WhatsApp as a browsable product list that the consumer navigates themselves.
Setting up a catalog
Depending on whether you use Meta's Commerce Manager or set one up inside your own dashboard, you'll still go through the same sort of process: attaching images, setting prices, and writing descriptions for the items in your catalog. Essentially, it's no different to if you had a website selling the same items, only this has the convenience of being able to be browsed inside WhatsApp itself.
How orders actually flow from chat to fulfillment
With the catalog up and running, the customer can start browsing, adding, and removing items from their potential purchase inside the chat by simply replying to the catalog messages. The resulting order confirmation will then be passed through to your existing order management system or spreadsheet, like with any other order on any other channel, removing the need to manually go through the chat, read what was ordered, and type it all into another system.
Who this works best for
This is a particularly useful tool for companies which sells products that have relatively standardised catalog entries: retail shops, fashion designers or jewellers selling accessories, FMCG suppliers with regular customers, and others with somewhat predictable orders. A company which sells highly customised products with every order quoted individually wouldn't particularly benefit from WhatsApp commerce, as, for such a product, every order has to be discussed individually anyway.
Where to go from here
The best way to really get an idea of WhatsApp commerce is to see it for yourself rather than reading about it second-hand, and so a short demo is available to view right now.