Take orders on WhatsApp instead of a payment gateway
A full, searchable product catalogue that sends every order straight through to WhatsApp — built for custom, made-to-order, and quote-based products that don't have one fixed price.
Good for
- Personalised or made-to-order products where the price depends on the customer's choices
- Businesses that already take orders over WhatsApp but with no searchable catalogue behind it
- Anyone who'd rather confirm an order personally than process an online payment
This isn't a new idea — it's a working shop.
JCM Custom Creations
A custom online shop for personalised sublimation printing. Customers browse the full range, build up an order, and send it straight through for a quote on WhatsApp — no account or online payment needed.
“Great service, very professional, I am very impressed.”
— Ilse Munnik, Google review
It's already how South Africans do business.
WhatsApp isn't a workaround — it's the primary channel. Standard Bank's October 2025 Informal Economy report found 74% of small and medium enterprises prefer WhatsApp for reaching customers, and by 2023, 96% of South African internet users already preferred it for communication generally. A WhatsApp-order shop meets customers on the channel they're already using, instead of asking them to learn a new checkout.
WhatsApp messaging isn't free forever.
From 1 October 2026, businesses replying to customers on the WhatsApp Business Platform are charged roughly 12 cents per reply. For a typical small shop handling a normal volume of enquiries, this is a small and predictable cost — a few rand a day at most. A shop expecting high order volume should factor it in as a real running cost, the same way a payment gateway's transaction fee is a real running cost. We'd rather tell you this upfront than have it surprise you after launch.
A real catalogue, not a WhatsApp group.
1. Browse
Customers browse a proper, searchable product catalogue — the same static, indexable pages as a standard Horn Dev shop, so products can still be found on Google.
2. Build the order
Customers select products, options, and quantities, building up an order the same way they would in a normal cart.
3. Send to WhatsApp
Instead of a checkout, the order is sent straight to your WhatsApp as a clear, itemised message — ready for you to confirm, quote, and take payment however suits the order.
Included in the standard shop.
A WhatsApp order flow is one of the two standard checkout options — it doesn't cost extra on its own. Running both a WhatsApp flow and a full PayFast checkout side by side moves the build into the Extended Shop tier.
What people usually ask first.
Why take orders over WhatsApp instead of a payment gateway?
It fits products that don't have one fixed price — personalised, made-to-order, or quote-based items where the final price depends on the customer's choices. It also fits how South African customers already prefer to communicate: WhatsApp is the most-used business channel for small and medium enterprises in South Africa.
Does WhatsApp ordering cost anything to run?
From 1 October 2026, WhatsApp Business charges roughly 12 cents per reply on the WhatsApp Business Platform. For most small shops handling a normal volume of enquiries this is a small, predictable cost — but a high-volume shop should budget for it rather than assume WhatsApp messaging stays free indefinitely.
Can I have both a WhatsApp order flow and a PayFast checkout?
Yes — this is a common setup. A full PayFast checkout handles standard, fixed-price products, while a WhatsApp flow handles custom or quote-based items. It's scoped as the Extended Shop tier rather than the standard single-workflow build.
Has this actually been built before, or is it new?
It's the exact system behind JCM Custom Creations, a real, live shop for personalised sublimation printing — customers browse the full catalogue, build up an order, and send it through for a quote on WhatsApp with no account or online payment needed.