Whether you run a biryani center, a kirana store, a salon, or a sweet shop – there’s one question every local merchant faces today: how do I get more customers without spending a fortune?
The answer is already in your pocket. WhatsApp.
And with chotu, you can create a beautiful digital catalog and start receiving orders on WhatsApp – for free, with zero commission.
Your Shop Is Great. But Can Customers Find You?
You wake up early. You prepare fresh stock. You offer good prices and honest service. But when a customer in your own neighborhood wants what you sell, they either forget your number – or order from someone else who has a neat, shareable catalog.
This is the reality for millions of local merchants across India today:
- Cafe owners sending daily menu photos one by one.
- Mutton shop and fish shop owners answering “what’s fresh today?” fifty times a morning.
- Tailors and boutique owners struggling to show their designs over chat.
- Kirana owners losing regulars to quick-commerce apps.
- Sweet shops and bakeries with no way to take pre-orders for festivals.
- Astrologers, ayurvedic shops, and loan services with no way to share their offerings professionally.
The problem isn’t your product. The problem is visibility. And chotu fixes that.
What Is chotu?
chotu is a simple tool that helps local merchants – from pan shops to dental clinics, from rice traders to pest control services – create a digital product and service catalog and share it directly on WhatsApp.
No website needed. No app for your customer to download. No technical skills required. If you can use WhatsApp, you can use chotu.
How It Works in 3 Steps
Step 1: Create Your Digital Catalog
Add your items or services with photos, names, and prices. Whether you sell 5 things or 500 – your catalog is clean, organized, and easy to browse. A biryani center can list all their varieties. A dry fruits shop can show today’s rates. A florist can display their bouquet packages. A carpenter can showcase their furniture work. Everything in one place.
Step 2: Share Your Catalog Link on WhatsApp
chotu gives you a unique link for your catalog. Share it in your WhatsApp status, send it to your regular customers, post it in your colony group, or print it on your shop board. Anyone who taps the link sees your full catalog instantly – no sign-up, no download, no friction.
Step 3: Receive Orders Directly on WhatsApp
Customers browse your catalog, pick what they want, and send you the order directly on WhatsApp. You get a clear, ready-to-act order message. No middleman. No commission. You confirm, prepare, and deliver – completely on your terms.
Built for Every Kind of Local Business
chotu works for the full range of Indian local commerce. Here’s how different merchants are using it:
Food & Restaurants: Biryani centers, chicken shops, fish shops, mutton shops, bakeries, breakfast joints, home food makers, restaurants, curry points, fast food stalls, chat bhandars, hot chips counters, and catering services are using chotu to share daily menus, take pre-orders, and reduce waste. Customers know what’s available before they even leave home.
Kirana & Daily Needs: Kirana stores, dairy parlours, rice traders, flour mills, fruits and vegetable vendors, organic shops, and pickle shops are sharing their stock and rates on WhatsApp. Customers from the colony send their shopping list, and delivery happens within the neighborhood – no delivery app needed.
Health & Wellness: Medical shops, ayurvedic shops, nutritionists, and dental clinics are listing their products, services, and consultation packages. Customers can browse and enquire without the awkwardness of walking in just to ask for prices.
Beauty & Personal Care: Salons and dry cleaning businesses are displaying their full service menus with prices and photos. Customers book appointments or drop off clothes by simply messaging after browsing the catalog.
Trades & Services: Tailors, carpenters, pest control services, and caterers are showcasing their work and packages. A tailor can display fabric options and rates. A carpenter can show past projects. A caterer can share full event menus with per-plate pricing.
Specialty & Niche Shops: Dry fruits shops, gift shops, pet shops, florists, sports shops, stationery stores, sweet shops, pan shops, and even astrologers and loan services are creating professional catalogs that build trust with customers before the first conversation even begins.
Why WhatsApp? Why Now?
Over 500 million Indians use WhatsApp every single day. It’s not just a messaging app – it’s where families coordinate, neighbors share news, and increasingly, where people discover and order from local businesses.
Unlike Swiggy, Zomato, or any delivery aggregator, WhatsApp doesn’t take a commission from your orders. Unlike Instagram or Facebook, your customers don’t need to follow you or see an algorithm-filtered post. You send them your link directly, they browse your catalog directly, and they order from you directly.
The relationship stays between you and your customer. That’s powerful.
What Merchants Are Saying
“Before chotu, I used to send photos one by one in WhatsApp. Customers got confused, prices were wrong, I was wasting two hours every day answering the same questions. Now I just send my catalog link – and orders come automatically. My biryani sales went up 40% in the first month itself.” – Rameez Bhai, Biryani Center, Hyderabad
“I’m a tailor. I never thought I needed any digital thing. But my neighbor’s son helped me set up chotu in one evening. Now my catalog shows all my dress designs, fabrics, and prices. Girls from nearby colonies message me directly. Business is booming especially during festival season.” – Lakshmi Aunty, Boutique & Tailoring, Secunderabad
“My kirana has everything – but customers don’t know. After I shared my chotu catalog in the colony WhatsApp group, people started ordering rice, oil, pulses – everything from me. Home delivery within 500 meters. No app, no commission. Just pure profit.” – Suresh Kumar, Kirana Merchant, Vijayawada
5 Tips to Get More Orders with Your chotu Catalog
Pin your link in your WhatsApp status every morning. Your daily customers will see it, share it with family, and new customers will discover you. Add a fresh photo from your shop to build trust.
Print your catalog QR on your shop board. A simple “Order on WhatsApp QR on a flex board outside your shop brings in customers even when you’re busy inside.
Share your link in your colony or area WhatsApp groups. A polite introduction with your catalog and a small opening offer can bring dozens of new customers overnight.
Update your catalog regularly. Change prices when needed, add seasonal specials, mark sold-out items. Customers who see a live, updated catalog trust you more and order more often.
Offer a small WhatsApp-order discount. Even ₹10 off on orders above ₹200 trains customers to use your catalog. It costs you far less than any advertisement.
Zero Commission. Zero Complexity. Zero Excuses.
chotu was built for the merchants who are the backbone of every Indian neighborhood – the anna who runs the kirana, the aunty who makes home food, the bhai at the chicken center, the uncle at the medical shop. People who work hard every day and deserve tools that work just as hard for them.
No commissions taken from your orders. No website to maintain. No app for your customer to install. Just your shop, your catalog, your customers – and WhatsApp, which everyone already has.
If you can describe what you sell, you can build your catalog today.
Get started with chotu – free. Your neighborhood is waiting.