Define which stock you are offering online
A neighborhood shop in Latin America may sell the same product over the counter, through a catalog and in direct messages. Decide who updates availability and when. If your checkout system does not connect to the catalog, reconcile physical store sales separately: do not assume online stock knows every movement. Begin with a selection you can check and review frequently changing or low-stock items more often.
Treat the message as the start of confirmation
Customers can open WhatsApp and edit the text, send it later or never send it. Opening the message therefore does not prove payment or acceptance. Review the corresponding dashboard order when one exists and verify items, units, quantities and the total. Use its identifier in the conversation to distinguish it from similar orders. Do not copy a payment status from a screenshot or statement without checking the agreed payment channel.
Check stock without deducting it twice
Before accepting an order, check physical stock and the dashboard. Establish whether the order flow has already changed inventory; do not deduct manually again for the same event. Separately record counter sales and other movements the system does not know about. If quantities differ, identify the missing movement before correcting them. A shared operational note can help the team reconstruct what happened.
Agree explicitly on substitutions
In this illustrative scenario, a customer requests two one-litre bottles and only one remains. Explain the available quantity and offer an alternative with its pack size and price. Wait for acceptance before changing the order or preparing another product. At a hardware shop, a different size is not automatically an equivalent replacement either. Update the agreed summary and total so preparation staff, delivery staff and the customer share the same information.
Confirm fulfilment and payment in one clear message
Adapt this example: ‘I checked order [reference]. We have [items and quantities]. The agreed total is [amount and currency], with [delivery or pickup] at [confirmed time]. Payment will be through [agreed method]. Can you confirm these details?’. Fill the fields with actual information and explain any pending charges. The template organizes the conversation; it does not send messages automatically or establish that payment was received.
Update status after the action happens
Reviewing an order, preparing it, verifying payment and handing it over are separate actions. Select the dashboard status that reflects what happened and check the timeline. If the customer cancels or delivery fails, record the actual outcome and review inventory before adjusting it. A label alone does not refund money, dispatch a parcel or prove that an item is back on the shelf.
Finish the day with a short reconciliation
Review pending orders, unavailable products and external sales still needing entry. Start investigating discrepancies with items that caused questions or substitutions. Keep an operational issue list with the product, reason and correction. This helps identify listings needing a clearer sales unit and products to remove temporarily from the catalog, without inventing improvement rates or relying on memory of every conversation.