What’s new in SleekFlow: WhatsApp Catalog
Imagine you've spent countless hours creating an amazing catalog of products that you're proud of. You've taken great photos, written detailed descriptions, and put in a lot of effort to make everything look just right. But when you launch your website, you realize that something's not quite working. People are visiting your site, but they're not converting into customers. What's missing?
Creating effective product listings is about making it easy for your customers to find what they're looking for, filter their search results, and check out without any hassle. And, of course, you need to make sure you're showing the catalog to the right audience with targeted advertising. It's not just about having great photos and information.
If you're still struggling to make sales, there's a new feature that might be just what you need. It's called the WhatsApp Catalog on SleekFlow. With this new feature, you can create a virtual shop right inside WhatsApp. Your customers can browse your products, ask questions, and make purchases without ever leaving the app. It's a great way to build relationships with your customers and encourage repeat business. And it eliminates the need for expensive websites or physical brochures that don't allow for real-time communication.
40 million people view business catalogs on WhatsApp every month.
Key features and capabilities
1. Improve business workflow with Meta Commerce Manager integration
Creating a WhatsApp Catalog on SleekFlow is straightforward, particularly if you already have a Facebook catalog. By following our intuitive step-by-step guide, you can easily connect your Meta Commerce Manager catalog to your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA). We have also embedded a sign-up flow that enables Facebook permissions without any hassle. Additionally, you can use the same catalog that you use for other Meta tools, such as dynamic ads, to showcase your products and services to your customers on WhatsApp.
If you don't have a Facebook catalog, you can easily add your business inventory to Meta either through API integration or manually.
2. Link one catalog to multiple WhatsApp phone numbers
At SleekFlow, we want you to have as much control and flexibility as possible. Our platform enables you to connect your product catalog to multiple WhatsApp numbers, as long as they are tied to the same WABA. You can choose which number to link to your catalog and change your store's visibility anytime through our settings.
This feature makes it simple to manage and update your product info across all your storefronts. Any changes you make to your catalog will automatically show up on all the linked numbers. This saves you time and reduces the chances of errors. Plus, it makes it easier for customers to find and buy your products, no matter which phone number they use to reach you. If you have multiple branches, this feature is especially useful because it ensures a consistent shopping experience.
3. Simplify transactions with pre-populated payment links
Almost one-fifth of online shoppers have abandoned their orders solely because of a prolonged or complicated checkout process. But the good news is, fixing this issue is as simple as making some design changes.
At SleekFlow, we offer a payment feature that enables you to automatically create and send a Stripe payment link directly from your customer's cart. The checkout page is pre-filled with your customer's purchase, which makes the transaction process smoother and payment management more efficient for you.
If you prefer to manually check the cart messages to safeguard your inventory, you can do so and edit the items before sending a payment link. Moreover, you can incentivize your customers with discounts to encourage them to complete their purchases and set an expiration time for the payment link based on your policies.
By working with Stripe, a renowned company specializing in omnichannel payment and data security, you can rest assured that your customers will feel confident being redirected to a well-known payment gateway. Stripe manages the transaction and keeps your customers' information safe and secure, so you don't have to worry about a thing. Furthermore, we want to make it clear that no customer card information or details are stored or retained in our app.
In fact, Stripe has a number of robust security measures in place to protect your data, including the following:
PCI Service Provider Level 1 certification
Money Transmitter Licenses
SSAE18/SOC 1 type 1 and type 2 and SSAE18/SOC 2 type 1 and type 2 reports
PSD2 and Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) compliant
E-Money Licenses in the EU and the UK
Know Your Customer and AML checks
SleekFlow has a real impact on business growth. Our online sales have doubled since we started to use SleekFlow.
Julien de Préaumont
Founder of Le Dessert
4. Convert customers with dynamic product messages
WhatsApp Catalog is a fantastic tool that allows customers to easily browse, ask questions about, and purchase products or services.
What sets it apart is its shareability, in which you can share the catalog or individual items as links on websites, Facebook, Instagram, or other platforms. This means that even random visitors who stumble onto your Facebook page can contact you or share the products with their friends and family on WhatsApp when they see something they like.
You can send your customers a message containing a link to your catalog using the following format:
https://wa.me/c/country_code_phone_number
Coming soon, SleekFlow's WhatsApp catalog users will be able to proactively reach out to customers by sending product messages. For example, if someone expresses interest in your service, you can send them a list of products that you think they might like. When they click on an item, we'll show them all the details they need to know in a Product Detail Page (PDP) format. They can add the product to their cart and adjust the quantity right then and there. If there are any updates to the product, such as it being out of stock, we'll let them know before they check out.
You don't need to use a pre-approved template to promote any items in your catalog. Product messages always feature the most up-to-date item details, pricing, and stock levels straight from your catalog.
The best part is that the cart has no expiration date. It will stay in the chat thread between you and your customer until they send it to you. Once they've added everything they need, you can take care of the rest, such as delivery and payment options.
Best catalog tools for businesses in the service sector
The WhatsApp Catalog is designed to make exploring your offerings an enjoyable and interactive experience for customers, making it an excellent fit for industries like beauty and medicine. Check out how you can use it to overcome engagement and sales hurdles:
Beauty salons: Replace outdated brochures with a WhatsApp Catalog, making it easy for clients to browse, book, and pay for appointments.
Medical clinics: Ditch static websites in favor of a catalog featuring treatments, appointment options, and health packages, enabling patients to easily discover and schedule appointments.
Fitness centers: Enhance member engagement by using WhatsApp Catalog to display membership plans, classes, and personal training services, helping members make informed decisions.
WhatsApp Catalog does not have advanced inventory management features, such as warehouse integration and batch tracking. Consequently, it’s best suited for businesses operating in the service industry where inventory tracking is not a primary concern.
How to add a catalog to your WhatsApp Business Account?
Step 1: Upload inventory to Meta
First, you need to create a catalog and add items to your catalog using the Meta Commerce Manager.
Go to the Commerce Manager.
Select Create a Catalog and then click Get started.
Select the type of inventory you advertise or sell and click Next.
Choose how you want to add items to your catalog: select Upload product info.
Select the Business Account that your catalog belongs to.
Enter a name for your catalog, click Create.
Back to the main page, select your newly-created catalog.
Open the Catalog tab and go to Items.
Select Add items. In the dropdown, select Add multiple items.
Select Manual followed by Next.
Add an image of your item. It has to be at least 500 x 500 pixels, in JPEG or PNG format, and a maximum of 8 MB.
Enter a name, description, and other details for your item.
To add a new item, select the dropdown next to + New to add 5 or 10 new rows at once.
When you’re finished, select Upload items in the bottom-right corner.
In the confirmation window, select Done.
Step 2: Connect Meta Catalog to a WABA
Then, you need to connect the catalog to your WhatsApp Business account:
Go to Business Manager and select your business.
Click on the triple bar symbol.
Click WhatsApp Manager.
Click the account that you want to connect to the catalog.
In the left-hand menu, click Catalog.
Click Choose a catalog.
From the drop-down menu, choose the catalog that you want to connect.
Click Connect catalog.
Step 3: Complete commerce settings on SleekFlow
Finally, you can manage your WhatsApp Catalog on SleekFlow.
Log in to SleekFlow and go to Channels.
Under the Commerce extension, click Add next to WhatsApp Catalog.
Follow the prompts on the screen to grant permission for SleekFlow to access your Meta Catalog and customer conversations.
Choose and confirm the phone number you want to display the catalog with.
Create a WhatsApp catalog for your business now.
About What’s new in SleekFlow
‘What’s new in SleekFlow’ is a series introducing SleekFlow’s latest features developed based on customer feedback.
Looking to request a feature on SleekFlow? Submit your idea by filling out this form.
If you’re an existing SleekFlow customer, we would really appreciate a simple review here based on your experience so far!
Discover our previous product update: Create a store in messaging apps within minutes
Share Article
