Grocery WhatsApp ordering already happens in most neighbourhoods, whether the shop has set it up or not. Customers send a photo of a handwritten list, a voice note, or "same as last week", and the kirana owner reads it between counter customers, packs it, and sends the boy. The question is how to turn that into something that does not depend on one person's memory and one phone.
This guide takes a kirana or small grocery store from free-text lists to a proper ordering channel in stages: what the WhatsApp Business app can do on its own, when a catalogue with pack sizes becomes necessary, how to set a delivery radius and a minimum order, how to handle UPI, cash and khata, how to get the weekly list reordered in one tap, and how to let staff take orders on the same number.
Why WhatsApp fits a kirana better than an app
The quick-commerce apps have taught customers to expect groceries in minutes, but they have not replaced the kirana for the monthly list, the odd item at 9 pm, or the household that runs a khata. The kirana's advantages are trust, flexibility and a delivery boy who already knows every building in a 1 km radius.
WhatsApp keeps all of that and removes the friction. The customer does not install anything; the shop does not pay a commission; the list arrives in writing instead of over a phone line that is engaged. For a shop doing ₹60,000 a month in delivery orders, keeping that on its own number rather than on a commission channel is a meaningful difference in margin, and the margin in grocery is thin to begin with.
The same logic applies to any small food or household retailer, from a bakery counter to a meat and seafood delivery business. The product changes, the channel does not.
Level one: the WhatsApp Business app, done properly
Most kirana owners already use the free WhatsApp Business app. Set up properly, it handles the first stage well. Fill in the business profile with the address, timings and a map pin. Create quick replies for the five messages you send most: "received, packing now", "out for delivery", "we are closed, orders after 8 am", "UPI ID is", and "minimum order for delivery is ₹200". Use labels to mark orders as new, packed and delivered so nothing is lost in the chat list.
Add the 50 or so fastest-moving items to the built-in catalogue with photos and prices, so customers can send a cart instead of a list. Post the day's fresh stock, vegetables, bread, milk brands, on Status every morning.
The limits show up at around 20 to 30 delivery orders a day. The catalogue has no pack sizes or stock control, so "atta" is one entry and the customer still has to type "5 kg Aashirvaad". Carts arrive as messages that someone has to re-read. There is no payment in the flow, so UPI is chased separately. And the app lives on one phone, so when the owner is at the wholesaler, nobody is answering. The detailed limits are in why a WhatsApp catalog is not a real ordering system.
Level two: a catalogue with pack sizes, categories and search
A grocery catalogue is different from a restaurant menu because of scale. A small kirana stocks 800 to 2,000 SKUs. Nobody will scroll that in a chat. The structure has to do the work: categories such as staples, dairy, snacks, cleaning and personal care; each product as an item; pack sizes and brands as variants under it; and a search that finds "poha" in two keystrokes.
Do not try to list everything on day one. Pull last month's bills and list the 300 items that account for most of your delivery sales. Add the rest as customers ask. Keep an "anything else" free-text field at checkout for the item that is not listed yet, so the customer never has to abandon the cart.
Prices change weekly in grocery, and the catalogue should be editable from a phone in a minute. Mark items as out of stock rather than deleting them, so the customer sees "not available today" instead of thinking you stopped carrying it. A web store page that mirrors the catalogue lets customers browse on a bigger screen and share the link in society groups.
Delivery radius, slots, minimum order and payment
A kirana's delivery economics work only within a short radius. One or two kilometres is typical, served by one delivery boy on a cycle or scooter. Set a ₹200 minimum for delivery and a ₹20 charge below ₹500, free above it. The free line nudges a ₹420 order to ₹500 with one more item, and the extra margin covers the trip. Beyond 2 km, pickup only, unless the order is large.
Slots help the delivery boy more than the customer. Orders by 11 am go out by 1 pm; orders by 5 pm go out by 7 pm. Two batched rounds a day beat twelve single trips. Urgent single-item orders can still be handled by chat for regulars, as an exception.
UPI, cash and khata
Offer UPI at checkout as the default, cash on delivery for regulars and small orders, and khata only for households you know, settled weekly with a payment link every Monday. A payment link or gateway that confirms the payment to you automatically avoids the fake screenshot problem, which grocery stores see as often as restaurants do. Keep the khata list short; it is a courtesy for regulars, not a credit business.
Keep GST bills coming from the same system that took the order, so the monthly return does not start with a shoebox of handwritten slips.
Repeat orders: the weekly and monthly list
Grocery is the most repetitive purchase there is, and that is the whole opportunity. A household buys roughly the same 40 items every month and the same 10 items every week. If reordering last week's list takes one tap, the kirana wins that order every week without a single message.
Three habits build the repeat. A Sunday evening message to customers who have opted in: "Monthly staples list ready to reorder, prices updated." A Status post each morning with the fresh stock and any offer. And a quiet coupon, say ₹30 off a ₹700 order, for anyone who has not ordered in three weeks. The rules for building a list customers actually want to be on are in WhatsApp ordering for small businesses.
Bundles work for groceries too. A ₹999 monthly staples pack, a ₹299 breakfast pack, a festival pooja kit. Pre-set bundles at a small discount sell to the customer who does not want to think, and they lift the average order.
Staff, the counter and growing beyond one phone
Once orders pass 30 a day, the shop needs more than one person on the number. The owner takes the wholesaler calls, the counter staff packs, the delivery boy marks orders as delivered. Each needs to see the orders without passing one phone around, and each should see only what their role needs.
The packing list matters more than it sounds. An order printed on a thermal printer as a pick list, with items in aisle order, lets a new staff member pack a 40-item order without asking the owner. a new-order alert on the staff app means the person packing does not have to keep checking a screen.
Tezzu is one way to run this stage. Customers order on your own WhatsApp number or a free store page at tezzu.in/store/your-shop, products carry pack sizes as variants, bundles handle the monthly packs, delivery zones carry distance-based charges with a free-delivery threshold, and payments run on UPI through Razorpay with cash on delivery as an option. Orders land in a live dashboard and on the staff app, staff roles control who sees what, orders print on a thermal printer, and GST bills come from the same order. Plans start at ₹999 a month with a flat ₹10 per order and no commission. The staff setup is described in the Tezzu staff app guide, and the home food business ideas guide covers smaller sellers who use the same setup.
Three ways to take grocery orders on WhatsApp, compared
| Approach | Works up to | Cost | What breaks first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free-text lists and voice notes on a personal or business number | 10 to 15 orders a day | Free | Missed messages, wrong items, payment chased by hand |
| WhatsApp Business app with catalogue, quick replies and labels | 20 to 30 orders a day | Free | No pack sizes or stock, no payment in flow, one phone |
| Ordering platform on your own number with store page | Hundreds of orders a day | Monthly plan plus a flat per-order fee | Needs an hour to build the catalogue properly |
Most shops should start at level one, do it properly, and move to level two only when the order count or the staff problem forces it. The move is inexpensive. It does need the catalogue built with pack sizes, which is an afternoon's work with last month's bills open.
Take the weekly list on your own number
Pack sizes, delivery zones, UPI and a packing list for staff, set up in about 30 minutes. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial.
Start your free 7-day trialFrequently asked questions
How can a kirana store take orders on WhatsApp?
Start with the free WhatsApp Business app: a complete profile, quick replies for common messages, labels to track orders, and a catalogue of your fastest-moving items. When orders pass 20 to 30 a day, move to an ordering platform on the same number with pack sizes, search, UPI at checkout and a dashboard your staff can share.
Can customers pay for groceries on WhatsApp?
Yes. With an ordering platform, the customer pays by UPI or card at checkout and the payment is confirmed to you automatically, with no screenshot needed. Cash on delivery can stay on for regulars and small orders, and khata customers can be settled weekly with a payment link sent every Monday.
What delivery radius should a grocery store set?
One to two kilometres for a single delivery boy on a cycle or scooter, with a ₹200 minimum order and a small charge below a free-delivery threshold of around ₹500. Batch deliveries into two rounds a day. Beyond 2 km, offer pickup only unless the order is large enough to justify the trip.
How many products should I list in a grocery catalogue?
Start with the 300 items that make up most of your delivery sales, taken from last month's bills, with pack sizes and brands as variants. Add the rest as customers ask for them, and keep a free-text field at checkout for anything not listed. Mark items out of stock rather than deleting them so prices and listings stay intact.
Is WhatsApp grocery delivery profitable for a small store?
It can be, because there is no commission and the delivery boy is already on the payroll. Profit depends on a short radius, a minimum order, batched delivery rounds and a high share of repeat weekly and monthly lists. Bundled staples packs and a free-delivery threshold lift the average order enough to cover each trip.