Composite scenario for retail and small manufacturers who already “sell online” via chat — but lose track of stock, price, and payment.
The situation
A local shop took most orders on WhatsApp. Prices lived in the owner’s head. Photos were inconsistent. Payment was UPI with no clear order ID. Festival peaks meant missed messages and wrong dispatches.
What was not the first step
A heavy marketplace expansion or a complex ERP. The shop needed a single catalogue truth and a checkout path that still allowed WhatsApp for trust.
What we did (Digital Commerce, light)
- Catalogue hygiene — SKU, price, photo, and availability for top sellers first (not every SKU on day one).
- Simple storefront — mobile-first product pages and cart.
- Payment and confirmation — gateway or UPI with an order reference the shop could match.
- WhatsApp as support, not the only catalogue — links pointed to the store; chat for exceptions.
- Owner handover — how to add a product, mark out of stock, and export orders for packing.
How it worked out
Order mistakes fell because price and product matched what the customer saw. Peak days still used WhatsApp for questions, but the catalogue no longer lived only in chat history. The owner could train a helper without sharing every personal chat thread.
When marketing helped later
Once checkout worked, light local ads and Google visibility had somewhere to land. Presence and commerce before campaign spend — same sequencing we use across the six platforms.