POS menu edit
The operator updates a price, uploads a new photo, marks an item 86-out or adds a special from the POS menu manager on Windows, web or Android.
event: menu.item.updated
Live · POS → Meta Catalog → WhatsApp → POS
MENU · Butter Chicken House
Live
Mains
Starters
Breads
Drinks
Butter ChickenMains · 320 kcal
₹320
Paneer TikkaStarters · veg
₹220
Dal MakhaniMains · slow-cooked
₹180
Garlic NaanSold out · 86 out
₹60
Mango LassiDrinks · seasonal
₹110
Butter Chicken House · Andheri West
Auto-sync · 2 sec ago
Auto-sync
Order returns
Meta Catalog
API
API
Products endpoint
WhatsApp
Business
Business
Native catalog
BC
Butter Chicken HouseBusiness · typically replies instantly
Menu · Live
42 items
Butter Chicken
₹320
Add
Paneer Tikka
₹220
Add
Dal Makhani
₹180
Add
Mango Lassi
₹110
Add
3 items · ₹610Butter Chicken + Paneer Tikka + Mango Lassi
Checkout
Order received · Ravi K · WhatsApp · ₹610Paid via UPI · ETA 25 min · landed in POS live queue
Paid
KOT printing
Assign rider
WhatsApp Ordering · Menu auto-sync · India · GCC · UK · EU
Take restaurant orders on WhatsApp with a menu that auto-syncs from your POS — free, zero commission.
Edit an item once in your POS — the price, the photo, the sold-out toggle — and the change lands on your WhatsApp Business Catalog in seconds. Customers browse the live menu inside WhatsApp, pay in-chat via UPI, Mada or Apple Pay, and the order drops into your POS live queue with the KOT already printing. Live in 48 hours.
Free Meta Catalog sync
·
Live in 48 hours
·
0% commission on WhatsApp orders
·
Arabic + English
Zero manual re-entry
|
Zero commission on WhatsApp orders
|
Zero sync cost
|
Works with Petpooja, Foodics, Sapaad and any modern POS
The feature
What WhatsApp ordering with menu auto-sync actually does
Every restaurant that lists on WhatsApp Business ends up with the same problem within a month. The Meta Business Suite catalog is a separate database from the POS. A price rise at the POS does not touch WhatsApp. A sold-out biryani rings up "sorry, we're out" on the phone at 8pm and the outlet spends the next hour issuing refunds and apologies. Nobody has time to update two menus twice a day, so within six weeks the WhatsApp catalog goes stale — wrong prices, missing specials, dishes the kitchen retired months ago — and the operator quietly gives up on WhatsApp as a real ordering channel.
Online eMenu's WhatsApp ordering solves that by making the POS the single source of truth. The operator edits an item — the price, the photo, the description, the availability toggle — inside the POS menu manager, exactly the way they already do for aggregators and the QR menu. Behind the scenes, the change is pushed to Meta's WhatsApp Business Catalog API within two to five seconds. The next customer to open the chat sees the new price, the new photo, the removed item. No CSV upload. No re-entry inside Meta Business Suite. No cron job for the operator to remember.
The customer experience matches how people already use WhatsApp for everything else. They tap the outlet's WhatsApp number from a Google search, a click-to-WhatsApp Meta ad or a table QR. The catalog opens as a native WhatsApp product list — image tiles, category chips, prices in the local currency — with no separate app to install and no web page redirect. They add items to a cart, pick dine-in, pickup or delivery, tap a payment link that lands in the same thread, and pay via UPI, Mada, Apple Pay, Google Pay or a Stripe card. The whole flow finishes inside WhatsApp.
The operator sees the order the moment the payment confirms. It drops into the same POS live queue that already handles the dine-in tickets, the aggregator orders and the QR-menu orders. The KOT prints on the kitchen thermal, the KDS lights up the station, and the delivery rider assignment fires automatically. From a workflow perspective the WhatsApp order is indistinguishable from a Swiggy or Talabat order — except that the outlet keeps 100% of the ticket instead of losing 25% to 35% to the aggregator. That is the whole trick, and it costs nothing extra to switch on.
Under the hood
How the auto-sync works — the 4-step pipeline
Every menu edit inside the POS moves through four stages. No manual step for the operator; every stage is logged and retryable.
Meta Catalog API push
The sync service transforms the item into Meta's commerce schema, hashes the payload, and posts to POST /{catalog-id}/products using the outlet's WhatsApp Business API token.
latency: 2-5 sec typicalWhatsApp Business Catalog update
Meta indexes the item and republishes to the WhatsApp Business Catalog served to end-user chats. Category, price and image render on the customer device on next open.
meta ack: 200 OK + product_idOrder returns to POS Live Queue
When the customer orders against the fresh catalog, the order and payment status flow back through the same pipeline into the POS live queue — no second dashboard to watch.
round-trip: ~7 sec end-to-endDeeper architecture — message templates, the 24-hour session rule, webhook JSON, Green Tick — is walked through in the WhatsApp ordering + POS integration write-up.
The full ordering flow
Same order. Two screens. No gap in between.
The five steps below happen in real time. The customer sees the left column inside WhatsApp. Your team sees the right column inside the POS. Nothing is manually retyped, ever.
Customer (on WhatsApp)
Operator (in POS / KDS)
1
Opens WhatsApp from QR, ad or wa.me link
A "Hi! See your menu" message pre-fills; the customer taps send. No app install, no signup, no email confirmation.
1
Scan and discovery counted in analytics
The dashboard records the scan: time, table, repeat customer or new. Useful for staffing decisions and table-turn data.
2
Browses the WhatsApp Business Catalog
The auto-synced catalog renders inside the chat — photos, prices, category chips, availability. Arabic or English based on their phone.
2
Menu stays live from POS edits
When the operator 86s an item at the POS, it disappears from WhatsApp within 5 seconds. No separate menu to maintain.
3
Builds cart, picks dine-in / pickup / delivery
Adds items, customises (no onions, extra cheese), sees the running total live inside the WhatsApp cart tile.
3
Order lands in the POS live queue, KOT prints
Order arrives tagged "WhatsApp · Table 5 · 2 items". KDS lights up. KOT printer fires. Zero retyping.
4
Pays inside WhatsApp with one tap
A secure pay-link lands in the same thread. Customer picks UPI, Mada, STC Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay or card. Payment confirms in-chat.
4
Payment auto-reconciles into daily sales
Settlements roll up in the same report as dine-in card sales. No "did the WhatsApp customer pay?" question at close.
5
Gets ETA, status pings, tracking link
"We've got it · 12 min" → "Cooking" → "Ready, head over". For delivery, a live tracking link. Optional post-meal check-in message.
5
Status pushed automatically from KDS
As the chef hits "preparing" or "ready", the customer is notified inside WhatsApp. No SMS, no waitstaff running across the floor.
The commission math
WhatsApp direct vs Swiggy, Zomato, Talabat, Deliveroo — per-order economics
The same basket of food, delivered the same way, on three regional currencies. Numbers below use published aggregator take-rates — Swiggy 22-25%, Zomato 22-25%, Talabat 30-32% all-in, Deliveroo 30-35% for restaurant delivery, Careem Food ~30%, Uber Eats 25-30% in the UK — plus payment gateway fees.
India · ₹500 order
1 curry + 2 rotis + drink
| Channel | Fees | Net to outlet |
|---|---|---|
| Swiggy | -₹150 | ₹340 |
| Zomato | -₹150 | ₹340 |
| WhatsApp direct | -₹15 | ₹485 |
GCC · AED 50 order
Shawarma + fries + drink
| Channel | Fees | Net to outlet |
|---|---|---|
| Talabat | -AED 16 | AED 34 |
| Deliveroo | -AED 17 | AED 33 |
| Careem Food | -AED 15 | AED 35 |
| WhatsApp direct | -AED 1 | AED 49 |
UK / Europe · £20 order
Burger + chips + drink
| Channel | Fees | Net to outlet |
|---|---|---|
| Deliveroo | -£6.40 | £13.60 |
| Uber Eats | -£6.00 | £14.00 |
| Just Eat | -£4.60 | £15.40 |
| WhatsApp direct | -£0.30 | £19.70 |
On a 60-cover outlet doing 45 delivery orders a day at these ticket sizes, moving 10 daily orders from an aggregator to WhatsApp direct is worth roughly ₹44,000 a month in India, AED 4,500 in the UAE, or £1,900 in the UK — against a monthly software cost of ₹199, $9 or £8. Aggregators still earn their keep for first-time-guest discovery; WhatsApp direct is where the repeat business should sit. See the pricing page for the full picture across regions.
New capabilities
What operators do differently once the catalog stays live
Three concrete operational changes that were not possible when the WhatsApp menu was a manually-maintained PDF or a stale Meta Business Suite catalog.
Push a new special to WhatsApp before it hits the printed menu
The chef finalises a monsoon special at 4pm. The operator adds it to the POS once, ticks "publish to WhatsApp catalog", and the item is live in the customer's WhatsApp chat before the print shop has even quoted the new tent card. Repeat guests browsing the catalog at dinner see it, order it, and give the kitchen a real-time read on whether it earns a permanent spot.
Time-to-live: 2 minutes from POS save to customer visible · Cost: ₹0 in printing waste for scrapped specials
86 a sold-out dish at 8pm — nobody orders it at 8:03pm
The classic refund spiral: the kitchen runs out of biryani at 8pm, but the WhatsApp menu still shows it available. Between 8pm and 9pm, six customers order it, six payments have to be refunded, six apology messages get typed, and one of them writes a bad Google review. With auto-sync, the moment the operator toggles the item to sold-out in the POS, it disappears from the WhatsApp catalog within five seconds. Nobody orders what the kitchen cannot cook.
Refund events avoided: ~6 per weekend for a 60-cover outlet · Guest complaints: near-zero for sold-out items
Peak-hour and dynamic pricing propagate automatically
Weekend brunch buffet at ₹799 on Saturdays, ₹599 on weekdays. Happy-hour cocktails at half price between 6pm and 8pm on a Thursday. Ramadan iftar bundle at AED 65 for the whole month, back to AED 85 the day after. The POS runs the rule; the catalog reflects the price the customer will actually pay at that hour. No manager has to remember to flip a menu at midnight.
Rule types: day-part, week-part, event-window, festival · Manual price flips: zero
Prerequisites
What you need to enable it — and how long each piece takes
Four ingredients. Most outlets already have two of them. The whole switch-on runs in under an hour, and Online eMenu handles the parts that require Meta paperwork.
WhatsApp Business API
Provisioned by Online eMenu through our BSP partner Go4WhatsApp on your outlet's registered phone number. Green tick optional.
Meta Business account
Free from Meta. If the outlet already runs a Facebook or Instagram page for the venue, the account exists — we just link it.
POS menu with product photos
Meta requires images at least 500 × 500 pixels. If your POS menu is text-only today, our onboarding team helps you shoot the first 40 items on a phone in one hour.
5 minutes to connect
Open the POS → Integrations → WhatsApp Catalog. Sign in with Meta. Approve the two OAuth scopes. The first full sync runs automatically.
If you already use Online eMenu's Ordering Suite, WhatsApp Catalog sync is toggled on inside the same admin console you already use for aggregators and the QR menu — no separate login, no separate contract.
Meta Catalog sync included — zero extra fee
Included in every Ordering Suite plan
Ordering Suite is one subscription that covers WhatsApp ordering + catalog sync, aggregator sync, QR menu, KDS, campaigns and reports. Regional pricing below — there is no separate line item for WhatsApp.
One Ordering Suite subscription. Four regional prices. Zero commission on WhatsApp orders.
India
Ordering Suite · India
₹199/month
All-in monthly · cancel anytime · 0% transaction fees on WhatsApp orders
- WhatsApp Business Catalog auto-sync
- Swiggy + Zomato sync in the same queue
- UPI, Razorpay, cash on delivery
- QR menu + KDS + KOT printing
- GST e-invoice + FSSAI compliant
- Hindi & English support 24×7
GCC
Ordering Suite · GCC
$9/month
All-in monthly · cancel anytime · 0% transaction fees on WhatsApp orders
- WhatsApp Business Catalog auto-sync
- Talabat + Noon + Deliveroo + Careem sync
- Mada, Apple Pay, PayTabs, Tap, Network International
- Bilingual Arabic + English catalog (RTL)
- ZATCA Phase 2 + UAE VAT compliant
- Arabic & English support 24×7
UK · EU
Ordering Suite · UK / Europe
£8/month
€8 in the EU · all-in monthly · 0% transaction fees on WhatsApp orders
- WhatsApp Business Catalog auto-sync
- Deliveroo + Uber Eats + Just Eat sync
- Apple Pay, Google Pay, Stripe cards
- HMRC Making Tax Digital (MTD) VAT-ready
- GDPR compliant · data in London / Frankfurt
- English support 24×7
No card. No setup fee. Cancel anytime. WhatsApp catalog live in 5 minutes. Full pricing on the pricing page.
Frequently asked
The ten questions operators ask next
What is a WhatsApp Business Catalog and how does auto-sync change it? +
A WhatsApp Business Catalog is Meta's native product-listing feature inside WhatsApp Business. Instead of sending a PDF menu or a photo of a chalkboard, the outlet publishes a structured list of items — each with an image, category, description and price — that customers can browse and add to a cart without leaving the chat. Restaurants have used it since 2020, but until now the catalog had to be maintained by hand in Meta Business Suite. Online eMenu's WhatsApp Catalog auto-sync replaces the manual work with a live pipe from the POS.
Is the Meta Catalog sync really free with Ordering Suite? +
Yes. The WhatsApp Catalog sync is bundled inside every Ordering Suite subscription — ₹199/month in India, $9/month across the GCC, £8/month in the UK and €8/month across the EU. There is no extra module, no per-item fee, no per-sync API charge on top. Meta itself does not bill outlets for hosting a business catalog. The only variable cost you may see is WhatsApp Business conversation pricing on marketing-initiated messages, which is set by Meta and passed through unchanged.
What is the difference between WhatsApp Business app and WhatsApp Business API? +
The free WhatsApp Business app is designed for one person on one phone and does not support a synced product catalog or automated order routing. The WhatsApp Business API — what Online eMenu provisions for you through our BSP partner — is the proper backend: multiple agents, automated order pipelines, integration with your POS, marketing broadcasts, and the green verified tick. Serious restaurant ordering needs the API.
Does the WhatsApp Catalog sync work with our existing POS? +
It works out of the box with Online eMenu Desktop POS and the Ordering Suite cloud POS. For third-party systems, we support Petpooja, Foodics, Sapaad, Restroworks (Posist), and any POS that exposes a menu API or a webhook. If your POS is on the list, the sync is a 5-minute connect. If it is not, our integrations team writes the connector — no charge to the operator — and we ship the two-way bridge within two weeks.
What payment methods work with the WhatsApp checkout? +
India: UPI (PhonePe, GPay, Paytm, BHIM) plus cards via Razorpay. GCC: Mada, Apple Pay, Google Pay, cards via PayTabs, Network International or Tap. UK and EU: Apple Pay, Google Pay and cards via Stripe. Cash on delivery is available in every region for outlets that want it. The payment link is generated dynamically per order and lands inside the same WhatsApp thread — the guest never leaves the chat.
Do I still need Swiggy, Zomato, Talabat or Deliveroo? +
For new-customer discovery, aggregators are still useful. But every repeat order should ideally move to WhatsApp, where the outlet pays 0% commission instead of 22-35%. Many operators nudge first-time aggregator customers to WhatsApp with a small coupon on the order dispatch bag. Within three months, 40-60% of repeat orders typically shift over.
How much does WhatsApp itself charge per message? +
WhatsApp charges per conversation (a 24-hour window). Service replies triggered by a customer message are free. Business-initiated marketing messages cost roughly ₹0.80-1.20 in India and AED 0.30-0.45 in the UAE at Meta's current published rates. Order-related notifications inside an already-open conversation are free. Online eMenu passes Meta's pricing through unchanged with no markup.
How many products can we sync to the WhatsApp Business Catalog? +
Meta permits up to 500 items per catalog and up to 30 collections (categories) at the current API tier. Very few restaurant menus approach that ceiling — a typical full-service menu runs 60 to 180 items across 8 to 14 categories. If your menu is larger, we split it into logical sub-catalogs so search stays fast for the customer.
How do refunds work on a WhatsApp order? +
From the POS, the operator marks the order as refunded. The money goes back through the original payment gateway — UPI, Mada, card, or wallet — and the customer receives an automatic WhatsApp confirmation. Refund timing depends on the gateway, typically 3-7 working days. The refund is logged in the same daily sales report as the original ticket, so month-end reconciliation stays clean.
Is this GDPR, DPDP and Saudi PDPL compliant for customer data? +
Yes. Only the customer's WhatsApp phone number and order history are stored, and only for the outlet whose catalog they ordered from. Data lives on servers in the customer's region — Mumbai for India, Dubai and Riyadh for the GCC, Frankfurt for the EU, London for the UK — and is subject to a full DPA on request. Customers can request deletion via a single WhatsApp keyword and the record is purged within 72 hours, in line with GDPR Article 17, India's DPDP Act, and Saudi PDPL Article 22.