Native catalog: products, categories, images and prices

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Conversa Labs

Last updated on Aug 12, 2026

Overview

The native catalog is your product base inside Conversa Labs. It's where you record each item with name, description, images, price and availability, organize everything into categories, and keep the data that will be used to sync with WhatsApp and to send products during a conversation.

Keeping it well organized is the first step: from it you sync with Meta, send products in the chat, and charge orders. Even if you also use external platforms, the native catalog is the source of truth inside the platform.

Prerequisites

The Catalog & Commerce module enabled for your account and access role.
Permission to manage the catalog (create/edit products and categories).
Product images in a common format (for example, JPG or PNG) and reachable.

Step by step

Open the platform's Catalog area.
Create your categories to group products (for example, "Drinks", "Services", "Courses").
Add a product: enter name, description, category and its first variant.
For every variant, set a name, SKU, price and options such as Color: Blue and Size: M.
Use the arrow controls to set the display order and select exactly one default variant.
Attach one or more images to the product. You can then assign a specific product image to each variant; variants without one use the primary product image.
Set availability and inventory when applicable, save, and repeat for the rest of your products.

Settings & options

Product: name, description, price, category, availability, images and identifiers (such as SKU and external link).
Categories: product grouping that makes search and list building easier.
Images: one or more per product; the first is typically used as the highlight.
Variants: each sellable combination has its own name, options, position, price, stock and optional image. The default variant is the initial choice in lists and sends.
Archiving a variant: the edit form only discards variants that have not been saved yet. Archive a saved variant from the product detail after confirmation; choose another default first. The archived row and its order and payment history remain available.
Variant image: can only be selected from the same product gallery. Deleting it safely returns that variant to the primary product image.
Price: always in major units of the currency (see the tips section).
Automatic stock decrement: when a live sale becomes paid, the quantity of each inventory-tracked variant is decremented exactly once. The charge and order for the same sale share one identity, so duplicate webhooks or both events do not decrement twice. Stock stops at zero; variants without inventory tracking are unchanged. Historical imports and adoptions do not change the current balance either. Tracked stock uses whole units: a fractional line fails safely without rounding or partially decrementing the sale and remains visible in History. Fractional quantities on variants without inventory tracking do not affect stock.
Reports: the report view separates a deal item's quoted budget from the realized value of paid order items. The two metrics are not added together and can differ because of discounts, shipping or orders that have not yet settled.

Use cases

A restaurant or snack-bar menu with categories and photos.
A services catalog (appointments, plans, packages) with a price per item.
A list of physical products for a store that sells over WhatsApp.
A catalog of digital products or courses to send directly to the customer.

Tips, limits & best practices

Price in major units: type 4.97 to mean R$4.97. The platform does not divide by 100 — the value you record is the value displayed and charged.
An order total is the sum of price × quantity for each item — also without dividing by 100.
Use sharp, publicly reachable images: the WhatsApp sync needs to be able to download them. Images hosted at addresses that go offline won't be imported.
Keep names and descriptions clear — they appear to the customer when you send the product.
In the report, read Budget as the proposal recorded on the deal and Realized as paid order items. An item without a paid order is not included in realized revenue.

Troubleshooting

Price shows wrong (e.g. R$0.05 instead of R$4.97): confirm you typed the value in major units; don't multiply or divide by 100.
Image doesn't show: check that the file is valid and the image address is reachable.
A variant cannot be archived or deleted: choose another active variant as the default first.
The wrong image is shown for a variant: edit the product and select one of its gallery images for that variant, or choose the primary-image fallback.
Product won't disappear from lists: mark it unavailable instead of keeping it visible when it's not for sale.
A paid sale did not decrement stock: confirm that the sale line points to a variant with inventory tracking enabled. Records that were only imported or adopted as history remain available for review and intentionally do not rewrite the current balance.
The decrement is shown as failed after the automatic retries: an administrator should open Catalog → Import & Sync → History, locate the Automatic stock decrement run, open its detail, and click Retry stock decrement. The run identifies the charge or order and shows only a sanitized technical reference, without gateway credentials or payload. Retrying is safe: the sale's unique receipt prevents a second decrement if the previous attempt completed ambiguously. If the run is Pending or Processing, wait for the worker instead of clicking again. If the reason reports a fractional quantity, correct the source line to whole units — or disable tracking only when the variant is legitimately fractional — before retrying; the platform never rounds that quantity.