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Commerce in Flows

What is Commerce in flows?​

Everything you can do by hand in Commerce, a flow can do on its own - show products, ask for payment, wait for the money to arrive, and tell the customer what happened.

That means an order can be taken and paid for at two in the morning without anyone on your side being awake.

The commerce blocks​

Three blocks appear in the flow builder under Orders, alongside the normal send blocks.

BlockWhat it does
Request PaymentSends the customer an itemised order with a pay button
Wait for PaymentPauses the flow until the payment clears, fails, or runs out of time
Update Order StatusTells the customer their order is confirmed, shipped, or cancelled

You can also use a normal Send Template block to send a product message - single product, multi-product, or full catalog.

note

These blocks need Commerce enabled on your account, and Request Payment, Wait for Payment and Update Order Status additionally need WhatsApp payments approved on your number by Meta. See Payments & Order Status.

How to use it​

Wait for Payment has three ways out​

This is the block that makes automated selling safe, because it does not assume the payment worked.

  • Captured - the money arrived. Carry on and confirm the order.
  • Failed - the payment did not go through. Apologise and offer to try again.
  • Timeout - nobody paid in time. Follow up, or hand the conversation to a person.

Wire all three. A flow that only handles captured leaves everyone else stuck mid-conversation.

The block also saves the payment outcome and a payment reference as variables, so a later block can include them in a message or send them to another system.

A simple sell-and-collect flow​

  1. Send Template - a product message, so the customer can browse and pick.
  2. Request Payment - once they have chosen, send the itemised order.
  3. Wait for Payment - pause here.
  4. On captured → Update Order Status set to confirmed, then a thank-you message.
  5. On failed → a message offering to try again.
  6. On timeout → hand off to a human so someone can follow up.

Test before you publish​

Run through it yourself with a real number before you let customers near it. Payment flows are the worst place to discover a missing branch. See Monitor Your Flows to watch what actually happened.

Tips & best practices​

  • Always wire timeout. Most people who do not pay simply got distracted. A follow-up recovers a good share of them.
  • Do not leave someone waiting silently. Send something before the pause so they know a pay request is coming.
  • Hand off when it gets complicated. A refund question is a conversation, not a branch.
  • Keep the confirmation specific. "Order confirmed, shipping Tuesday" is worth more than "Thank you".

Frequently asked questions​

Do I need payments approved to use these blocks?​

For Request Payment, Wait for Payment and Update Order Status, yes - Meta gates all three behind payments approval for your number. Sending product messages from a flow does not need it.

How long does Wait for Payment wait?​

Until the payment clears, fails, or the time limit you set runs out - whichever comes first. The timeout branch handles the last case.

Can the flow read what the customer ordered?​

Yes. The order that arrives from a cart carries its items, and the payment blocks save their outcome and reference as variables you can use later in the flow.

What if the customer replies mid-payment?​

The flow is still waiting. Wire the timeout branch to a handover so a person can pick it up.

Can I use these in a campaign instead of a flow?​

Campaigns send one message to many people. Taking payment is a back-and-forth, so it belongs in a flow.