Wholesale
Taking wholesale orders on WhatsApp without losing them
A practical process for wholesale orders over WhatsApp and voice notes: order rules, confirmations, cut-off times and substitutions, all landing in one system.
If you run a wholesale business, your customers already order on WhatsApp. Nobody had to roll it out. It happened because it is the easiest way for a busy shop owner to send an order at the end of a long day.
We know this from the inside. We have run a wholesale business in London since 2014, and today we process more than 900 orders a month. For years a large share of those orders arrived as WhatsApp messages and voice notes, often late at night. "Same as last week." A photo of a handwritten list. A voice note recorded in a van. Messages buried in a group chat.
Orders got lost. Quantities were wrong. There was no paper trail when a customer said they had asked for ten cases, not five.
This guide covers the process that fixes most of that, whatever system you use, and then how PalletPOS lands those orders in the same place as everything else.
Why WhatsApp orders go wrong
The problem is not WhatsApp. The problem is that a chat is a conversation, and an order needs to be a record.
- Orders are unstructured. A message can say anything: product names your customer uses but your catalogue does not, units that are unclear (a "box" of what?), and references to previous orders.
- They arrive on personal phones. If the person who received the message is off sick, the order is effectively invisible.
- Nothing confirms them. The customer assumes the order is placed. You assume they will send the rest later.
- Voice notes are slow to process. Someone has to listen, write it down and key it in.
- There is no link to stock, prices or credit. The order is typed into the till or a spreadsheet hours later, after the stock may have gone and without checking the customer's balance.
A process that works
You can improve most of this with rules alone, before any software changes.
1. One business number, not personal phones
Orders should go to a business WhatsApp number that more than one person can see. If customers currently message staff directly, change that first. It is the single most effective step.
2. Publish a cut-off time
Decide when an order has to arrive to be picked for the next delivery or collection, and tell every trade customer. For example: orders by a set time in the evening are picked the next morning; anything later moves to the following slot.
A clear cut-off does two things. It gives your pickers a fixed list to work from, and it gives you a fair answer when a late order is not ready.
3. Ask for orders in a consistent shape
You cannot force customers to fill in a form, but you can make it easy to send a good order. Share a short guide with them:
- one product per line;
- quantity and unit (case, pack or single);
- the product code if they know it;
- the delivery or collection day.
Customers who send "same as last week" are telling you something useful: they repeat orders. Make repeat ordering easy, and those messages become accurate.
4. Confirm every order
Every order should get a confirmation that lists exactly what you understood: products, quantities, units and the delivery or collection day. If the customer disagrees, they reply before anything is picked.
This is your paper trail. When there is a dispute about quantities, the confirmed order settles it.
5. Agree a substitution rule
Stock runs out. Decide in advance what happens when an item on an order is unavailable, and agree it with each trade customer:
- substitute with a named alternative;
- skip the line and tell them;
- hold the order until the item is back.
Write the preference into the customer's account so the picker does not have to ask.
6. Check the account before you pick
For credit customers, check the balance and credit limit before the order is picked, not after it is delivered. An order that would take a customer over their limit is a conversation to have before the van leaves. We cover this in more detail in how to manage trade credit accounts without spreadsheets.
7. Never re-key orders by hand if you can avoid it
Every time someone types a WhatsApp order into another system, there is a chance of error. The goal is for the order to be captured once and then flow into picking, invoicing and the customer's account.
How orders land in PalletPOS
PalletPOS includes WhatsApp and Voice ordering as part of its connected commerce features. The point of it is simple: orders that arrive through WhatsApp or by voice end up in the same system as counter sales, online store orders and trade account activity, rather than in a chat history on someone's phone.
That matters because once an order is in the system it is connected to everything else:
- The catalogue and prices. The order is priced against the customer's account, so an approved trade customer gets their tier, customer-specific or case pricing. See wholesale features.
- Stock. The order is visible against the same stock that the tills and the Back Office use.
- Credit and statements. If the customer pays On Account, the sale is recorded against their balance, and appears on their transaction history and next statement from the same ledger. See Back Office.
- A record. There is a trail of what was ordered, which settles the "I asked for ten, not five" conversations.
You can read more about how it works on the WhatsApp and Voice ordering page.
Allowances
WhatsApp and Voice ordering is included on the Wholesale plan with a monthly allowance, and the Complete plan includes a larger allowance. Usage above the allowance is charged as overage. Current allowances are shown on the pricing page.
Combining the process with the system
Software does not replace the rules above. It makes them easier to follow.
| Rule | Without a system | With orders in one system |
|---|---|---|
| One business number | Fixes visibility | Orders are visible to the whole team |
| Cut-off time | Staff check timestamps | Orders sit in one list by time received |
| Consistent shape | Relies on customer habits | Orders matched to your catalogue |
| Confirmation | Typed reply per order | Confirmation from the recorded order |
| Substitutions | Picker asks each time | Preference stored on the account |
| Credit check | Look up a spreadsheet | Balance and limit on the account |
| No re-keying | Someone types it in | Captured once |
Getting your customers on board
Most trade customers will welcome any change that means fewer mistakes on their order. A few practical tips:
- Tell them what changes, and what does not. They can keep using WhatsApp. What changes is that their orders are confirmed and recorded.
- Start with your largest accounts. They send the most orders and gain most from accuracy.
- Keep the cut-off and substitution rules short. One message, pinned in the chat.
- Point retail-minded customers to your online store. Some customers would rather browse and order themselves. PalletPOS includes an online store with a custom domain on the Retail plan and above, so customers can order directly. See online store and domains.
What we would do first
If you only do three things this week:
- Move all ordering to a single business WhatsApp number.
- Publish a cut-off time and a substitution rule.
- Confirm every order in writing before it is picked.
Those three changes remove most lost and disputed orders. Then get the orders into one system, so nobody has to re-key them.
Next steps
WhatsApp and Voice ordering is included on the Wholesale and Complete plans. Compare plans and start a trial from the pricing page.