Catalog Sync (Meta Commerce Manager)

Definition

Catalog sync is the pipeline that keeps the product catalog WhatsApp displays — which lives in Meta Commerce Manager, attached to the WABA — consistent with the merchant's real inventory system. Commerce Manager supports several feed mechanisms: manual entry, scheduled data feeds (CSV/XML at a URL Meta polls), the Catalog Batch API for real-time programmatic updates, and platform partner integrations (e.g., Shopify) that sync automatically. Sync matters because WhatsApp renders catalog data live in chats: a stale price shown in a product message is a customer-service incident and, if systematic, a commerce-policy problem. Out-of-stock items should be hidden or marked unavailable rather than deleted, so existing chat links don't break.

How it applies in India

Indian merchants rarely maintain Commerce Manager by hand — product truth lives in Shopify, WooCommerce, Tally, Marg, or a POS, and a sync connector pushes changes up. Two India-specific wrinkles: prices display in INR and merchants must decide whether listed prices are GST-inclusive (the consumer-facing convention) and keep that consistent between the catalog and the invoice; and COD-heavy merchants often sync stock conservatively to avoid confirming orders for items that just sold out offline. WatEase's connectors sync products, prices, and availability to Commerce Manager and map cart submissions back to the master product IDs.

Frequently asked questions