WhatsApp Product Catalog & Message Templates
Sync your store's products into your WhatsApp Business catalog and manage the message templates Meta requires for outbound messages.
Two things need to be in place before customers can shop with you on WhatsApp: your products need to be visible inside the WhatsApp catalog, and any message you send has to use a template Meta has already approved. Both are managed from the WhatsApp screen, once you've connected your WhatsApp Business number.
Syncing your product catalog
Screen: Plugins → WhatsApp Business → Catalog.
This tab pushes your store's products to the WhatsApp Business catalog linked to your account (the Catalog ID you entered during setup). Every product shows:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Product | Product name |
| SKU | Your store's SKU for the item |
| Price | Current store price |
| Status | synced, pending, failed, or deleted |
| Last synced | When the product last pushed successfully |
Use the page-size selector in the bottom-right of the table (10 / 25 / 50 rows per page) if your catalog has more products than fit on one screen.
Sync everything
Click Sync All at the top of the tab to trigger a full re-sync of your catalog — use this after a bulk price change or a fresh product import.
Sync one product
If a single product shows pending or failed, click the sync icon in that row to retry just
that item without re-syncing the whole catalog.
Filter by status
Use the status filter (All / Synced / Pending / Failed) above the table to quickly find products that still need attention.
Tip
Customers browsing your catalog inside WhatsApp see whatever is currently marked synced — keep
an eye on failed rows after big catalog changes so nothing goes stale.
Message templates: what they're for
WhatsApp requires any business-initiated message sent outside an active conversation — a broadcast, an order confirmation, a shipping update — to use a template Meta has pre-approved. This prevents spam and protects the customer experience. Only messages sent as a direct reply within an open conversation window can be free-form text; everything else must go through an approved template.
Screen: Plugins → WhatsApp Business → Templates.
The Templates tab lists every template registered to your account, each with:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Name | The template's identifier |
| Language | Language code (e.g. en) |
| Category | UTILITY, MARKETING, or AUTHENTICATION |
| Status | DRAFT, PENDING, APPROVED, or REJECTED |
| Created | When the template was first created |
The table's page-size selector (10 / 25 rows per page) is in the bottom-right corner once you have enough templates to paginate.
Creating a template
Click Create
Click Create at the top of the Templates tab.
Fill in the template details
Give it a name, choose a language, pick a category (Utility for transactional messages like order updates, Marketing for promotions, Authentication for OTP-style codes), and write the body text.
The name must be lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores only (e.g. order_ready) — this is
Meta's rule, and the dialog blocks Create until the name is valid, offering a corrected
suggestion if yours isn't.
Add an example for every variable
If your body uses variables like {{1}} and {{2}} — for a customer name, an order number, and so
on — the dialog shows an Example for variable 1, Example for variable 2… field for each one.
Fill in a realistic sample value (e.g. Asha, BB-1042).
These examples are only used for Meta's review — real messages substitute live order data. But they are required: Meta reviews the rendered message as a customer would see it and rejects any template that uses a variable without an example. The dialog keeps Create disabled until every example is filled, so a template can't be submitted in a state Meta will only reject hours later. A body with no variables needs no examples.
Save as draft
Click Create in the dialog. The template is saved as DRAFT — it isn't sent to Meta yet.
Submit for approval
From the templates list, click the send icon on a DRAFT row to submit it to Meta for review.
Approval status and what it means
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
DRAFT | Created in BillionBiz, not yet sent to Meta |
PENDING | Submitted — Utility and Authentication templates usually clear in a few hours; Marketing templates can take up to two days |
APPROVED | Ready to use in a broadcast or an outside-window message |
REJECTED | Meta declined it — click the expand arrow on the row to read Meta's rejection reason |
Only APPROVED templates appear as options when you send a broadcast or reply to a customer outside the conversation window — this is a deliberate guardrail against accidental sends.
Why was my template rejected?
Click the expand arrow on a REJECTED row to read Meta's own reason. The most common one is
INVALID_FORMAT — a body that uses {{1}}-style variables without a sample value for each. Fixed
by re-creating the template and filling in the example fields (above). Other frequent reasons are
promotional wording in a template you filed as UTILITY, or a variable at the very start or end of
the body, which Meta doesn't allow.
Shipment status updates need their own approved templates
If you use shipment tracking notifications over
WhatsApp, they only send once you've created and had Meta approve templates with these exact
names: shipment_shipped, shipment_out_for_delivery, shipment_delivered, and
shipment_ndr_alert. A shipment status change won't retry the notification later if the matching
template isn't approved yet — get these submitted early so they're ready before you need them.
Keeping templates in sync
Click Sync from Meta at the top of the Templates tab to pull the latest approval statuses — useful right after you submit a template, or if you've made changes directly in Meta Business Suite. You can also delete a template from the list at any time using the delete icon on its row.