SalevaTaking shop orders on WhatsApp without the chaos
How a small shop can take orders on WhatsApp properly: setting up the business account, sharing a product list, confirming orders and payments, delivery, customer privacy, and messaging that customers welcome rather than mute.
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For many small shops, WhatsApp is already the second counter. Regular customers send a voice note with a list, a pharmacy gets photos of prescriptions, a mobile shop gets "do you have this cover?" with a screenshot. It happens whether or not the shop planned for it.
The trouble is that a counter has a system and WhatsApp usually does not. Orders are mixed with family chats, a voice note gets missed, a payment screenshot turns out to be for a different order, and a customer who was added to a group without asking quietly leaves and stops buying.
Here is how to run WhatsApp orders so they are as reliable as the counter.
Use a separate business number
If you can, keep the shop on its own number, not the owner's personal one.
- The shop's chats stay with the shop. If a staff member handles orders, they do not need your personal phone.
- Customers get a consistent contact that does not change if you change your personal number.
- Your family chats stay private.
The free WhatsApp Business app is built for this. It lets you add a shop profile with address, hours and a short description, set up a catalogue of products, use labels to sort chats, save quick replies, and set an away message for when the shop is closed. You can run it on a second SIM or on a separate phone kept at the counter.
Set up the basics once
Spend an hour setting these up and you will save that hour every week.
Shop profile. Name, address with a landmark, opening hours, delivery area. Customers should not need to ask "where are you?".
Greeting message. A short automatic reply for new contacts:
Assalam o alaikum, thank you for messaging Bilal General Store. Send your list here and we will confirm the total. Delivery within 2 km, 10 am to 9 pm.
Away message for closed hours, saying when you will reply.
Quick replies for things you type ten times a day: your delivery charges, your location, your bank or wallet details for payment, your order format.
Labels for order status. A simple set works well:
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| New order | Received, not yet confirmed |
| Confirmed | Total sent and agreed |
| Paid | Payment checked in your own account |
| Out for delivery | Packed and sent |
| Done | Delivered and recorded |
At any moment, you can see which orders are waiting on you.
Share a product list customers can actually use
Customers order more, and more accurately, when they can see what you have. You have three options, from simplest to most useful.
A price list image or PDF. Your top 50 to 100 items with sizes and prices, updated when prices change. Easy to make, easy to forward. Put a date on it so old copies are recognised as old.
The WhatsApp catalogue. Each product with a photo, price and short description. Customers can browse inside the chat and send you items directly. It takes longer to set up, so start with your fast movers and add more over time.
A shop web page. A link customers can open in any browser, with your full list and prices. Useful once you have many products or want customers to find you who do not already have your number.
Whatever you use, keep it current. A product list with wrong prices or items you no longer stock causes more trouble than no list at all. Mark out-of-stock items or remove them.
Use real photos of your products where you can, taken on a plain background in good light. They do not need to be professional; they need to be clear.
Make orders easy to read
Voice notes and photos of handwritten lists are fine; many customers prefer them. But typed orders are faster to process and less likely to be misread. Gently encourage a format with a quick reply:
Please send your order like this: item, size, quantity. For example: Cooking oil 1 L x 2, Sugar 1 kg x 3. Add your address and whether you will pay cash on delivery or online.
Never refuse a voice note from a regular customer. Just listen carefully, type it back and confirm.
Always confirm before you pack
The single most useful habit: send the customer a written confirmation of the order and the total before you start packing.
Your order: Cooking oil 1 L x 2 = 1,040. Sugar 1 kg x 3 = 450. Tea 475 g x 1 = 690. Delivery 50. Total Rs 2,230. Shall we send it?
This one message prevents most WhatsApp order problems:
- Misheard or misread items get corrected before packing.
- The customer sees prices and the total before the goods arrive, so there is no argument at the door.
- If something is out of stock, you can offer a substitute and let them choose.
- You have a written record of what was agreed.
If you send a formal bill, the free invoice generator creates a clean one you can share as a PDF or image.
Payment: check in your own account, never from a screenshot
Online payments by bank transfer or mobile wallet are convenient, and they come with one important rule: a screenshot is not a payment. Screenshots can be edited, reused from an old order or sent by mistake.
- Confirm every payment in your own bank or wallet app before you send goods or mark an order paid.
- Match the amount and the sender name to the order.
- Ask customers to add the order reference or their name in the payment note, so you can match it easily.
- Never ask a customer for their PIN, OTP or password, and never share yours. No genuine payment needs them.
- For new customers and large orders, ask for payment before delivery or use cash on delivery.
For regulars who pay at the end of the week or month, record the order as a credit sale against their name, exactly as you would at the counter. Running an udhaar khata covers limits and reminders.
Record every WhatsApp order as a sale
An order delivered from a chat is still a sale. If it is not entered in your till or register, your stock goes wrong and your daily cash count will not match. Enter it when you pack it, with the customer's name, and mark how it was paid.
This is also where errors show up. If your cash count is often out, check whether WhatsApp orders are being recorded the same way as counter sales. Closing the day covers how to match cash, wallet payments and credit separately.
Delivery: set clear terms
Decide your terms once and put them in a quick reply:
- Delivery area (for example, within 2 km).
- Minimum order for free delivery, and the charge below it.
- Delivery times (for example, orders before 6 pm delivered the same day).
- What happens if the customer is not home.
Send the delivery person with a printed or written copy of the order, and ask them to collect cash and return it with the order slip. Mark the order "Done" only when the money is with you or the online payment is confirmed.
Respect customers' privacy
A shop's WhatsApp holds a lot of personal information: phone numbers, addresses, prescriptions, what people buy and what they owe. Treat it carefully.
- Do not add customers to groups without asking. In a group, every member can see every other member's number. Many people strongly dislike this, with good reason.
- Use broadcast lists instead of groups for announcements. Recipients see the message as a private chat, and they cannot see each other. Broadcast messages only reach people who have saved your number, which is a useful filter: it means they chose to hear from you.
- Never share one customer's details or order with another.
- Do not post photos of customers, prescriptions or delivery addresses in status updates or groups.
- Lock the shop phone and limit who uses it.
- Delete what you no longer need, such as prescription photos once the order is completed, unless you have a reason to keep them.
Message customers without becoming spam
WhatsApp is personal. Customers who feel spammed mute, block or report you, and a number that collects many reports can be restricted by WhatsApp.
Keep promotional messages:
- Rare. Once a week at most; for many shops, a few times a month is plenty.
- Useful. New stock, a genuine offer, changed hours for Ramadan or Eid, an item that customers have asked about.
- Short. One message, one image, no chains of forwards.
- Easy to stop. End with "Reply STOP if you do not want these messages", and honour it immediately.
- Sent to people who agreed. Ask at the counter: "Shall I send you our offers on WhatsApp?" A yes is a customer who will read them.
Reminders about money owed are a different kind of message: private, polite, and only to the person concerned. The udhaar reminder messages tool has wording for that.
A weekly WhatsApp routine
- Every morning: clear the "New order" label; reply to everything from overnight.
- Every order: confirm the total in writing before packing; check payment in your own account.
- Every evening: check that every "Done" order is entered as a sale; count wallet payments in your close.
- Every week: update the price list or catalogue; remove out-of-stock items; send at most one promotional broadcast.
- Every month: clear old chats and photos you no longer need.
When WhatsApp orders grow beyond what a phone can handle, a shop page with an order button helps, because orders arrive already itemised and priced. Saleva's online shop page works this way: customers browse your products and prices from a link you share, and their orders arrive in the app's customer orders screen instead of a chat. The online shop guide explains how it works and how credits pay for it.
Questions shopkeepers ask
Should I use WhatsApp Business or normal WhatsApp?
WhatsApp Business is free and adds the shop profile, catalogue, labels, quick replies and away messages. For a shop that takes orders regularly, it is the better choice.
A customer sent a payment screenshot but I cannot see the money. What do I do?
Do not send the goods yet. Politely say the payment has not arrived in your account yet and ask them to check the transaction with their bank or wallet. Genuine payments sometimes take a little time; a fake one will not arrive.
Can I put all my customers in a group to send offers?
Use a broadcast list instead. Groups expose everyone's number to everyone else and many customers will leave. Broadcast lists keep each customer's number private.
How do I handle orders that come in when the shop is closed?
Set an away message with your opening hours. Reply first thing in the morning, oldest order first.
Is it okay to message customers about their udhaar on WhatsApp?
Yes, if it is a private message to the customer, polite and accurate. Check your records before sending, and never mention someone's debt in a group or to anyone else.
Try this in Saleva
Saleva is a free Android point-of-sale app for small shops: selling, stock, customer dues, staff and an online shop page. Selling works with no internet at all.