Overview
Having a catalog created and synced on Meta is not the same as having the storefront turned on for your WhatsApp number. These are three different things, and all of them must be in place before a product can be sent in a conversation:
- The catalog exists in your Meta business account and has published items.
- The catalog is linked to your WhatsApp Business Account (the WABA).
- The storefront is visible on the number — this is the step that usually goes unnoticed, because Meta creates every number with the storefront turned off by default.
When step 2 or step 3 is missing, the catalog looks perfect in Meta's manager, but sending a product in the conversation fails — usually with error #131008.
The Catalog & Storefront tab exists to make this visible. It lives inside the inbox settings, reads the state live from Meta, and shows in simple rows what is ready and what is missing. A single button — Turn on storefront for this number — takes care of step 3.
The tab owns the commerce of the number. Product synchronization (mapping, scheduling, history) stays in the Sync Studio, inside the Catalog module.
Prerequisites
- A WhatsApp (Cloud API) Inbox. The tab does not appear for WhatsApp Web inboxes or other channels — the storefront is a Cloud API feature.
- A catalog on Meta with published items. If you don't have one yet, create and sync it first from the Sync Studio.
- Administrator permission on the inbox, inside the platform.
- The Meta connection needs permission over the catalog and over the WhatsApp Business Account. Without it, reading works only partially and activation is refused by Meta.
Step by step
- Open Settings → Inboxes and select the WhatsApp Cloud API inbox.
- Open the Catalog & Storefront tab.
- Read the diagnostics. Each row answers one objective question: which catalog is selected, whether it is linked to the WhatsApp Business Account, whether the storefront is visible on the number, whether the cart is enabled, how many items the catalog has, and when it last synced.
- If no catalog is selected yet, choose the catalog this number should use.
- If the storefront is off, click Turn on storefront for this number and confirm.
- Reload the diagnostics and confirm that the link and the storefront now show as active.
- Open a conversation and send a product to validate end to end.
Settings & options
- Selected catalog — which Meta catalog this number uses. It is the source of the products you send in the conversation.
- Linked to the WhatsApp Business Account — whether the catalog is associated with the WABA. Without the link, the number cannot see the products, even though they exist.
- Storefront visible on the number — whether the storefront is on for this specific number. This is what the activation button changes.
- Cart enabled — whether the customer can build a cart and send an order. With the cart off, the customer still sees the products but cannot complete an order over WhatsApp.
- Items in the catalog — how many products Meta sees today. A count of zero almost always means the synchronization did not complete.
- Last sync — when products were last pushed to the catalog.
- Turn on storefront for this number — the only button that writes to your Meta account. Nothing is changed there without that click: opening the tab only reads the current state.
Use cases
- New inbox: you have just connected the number, the catalog is already synced, and you want product sending ready before the first conversation.
- Failing sends: an agent reports they "can't send a product". The tab shows in seconds whether the problem is the link, the storefront or an empty catalog.
- Several numbers: each number has its own storefront. When you open a new number under the same business account, you only repeat the activation — the catalog stays the same.
- Periodic audit: before a campaign, checking the item count and the last sync avoids advertising a product Meta cannot see.
Tips, limits & best practices
- The storefront starts off. That is Meta's behavior, not a platform failure. Every new number needs the activation once.
- Activation is explicit. The platform never turns the storefront on by itself, not even during a sync. The write happens only when you click the button.
- Reading is live. The values come from Meta at the moment the tab opens, not from a cache. If someone changes something in Meta's manager, reloading the tab already shows the new state.
- Storefront is per number; catalog is per business account. The same catalog can serve several numbers, but each number needs its own activation.
- Syncing does not activate. A successful sync in the Sync Studio publishes products but does not turn the storefront on. They are independent steps.
- Cart and orders: to receive structured orders in the conversation, the cart must be enabled on top of the storefront.
Troubleshooting
- Error #131008 when sending a product — Meta reports that a required parameter is missing for the product message. In practice, the number has no usable storefront: the catalog is not linked to the WhatsApp Business Account, or the storefront is off on the number. Fix: open the Catalog & Storefront tab, select the catalog and click Turn on storefront for this number.
- Error #131009 when sending a product — Meta reports that a value sent is invalid. Usually the product is not in the linked catalog: the item was never synced, it was archived, or it belongs to another catalog. Fix: check in the diagnostics that the selected catalog is the same one the product was published to, review the item count and run the sync in the Sync Studio.
- The tab does not appear — the inbox is not a WhatsApp Cloud API inbox. Storefront and native catalog are Cloud API features.
- Activation is refused — the Meta connection does not have enough permission over the catalog or over the WhatsApp Business Account. Review the permissions in Meta's manager and try again.
- Items in the catalog = 0 — the sync did not complete, or the products were rejected by Meta. Check the sync history in the Sync Studio.
- Storefront active, but the customer cannot complete the order — the cart is most likely disabled.