In many Latin American businesses the sale is closed on WhatsApp. The customer sees something on social networks, writes “info”, you send photos, they ask the price, you answer, they ask whether it comes in another colour, you send another photo. Every sale starts with ten messages that sell nothing: they only bring the customer up to date with what you have.
A 360° virtual tour does not replace WhatsApp. It takes that first part away. The customer walks the premises on their own, sees the products with price and stock, and when they write to you they already know what they want. This article explains how to set up the tour so that happens, and where to put it so people come in.
The problem with selling by chat alone
- You answer the same thing all day. Price, sizes, colours, opening hours, location.
- The customer does not know what else you have. They asked about one thing and never saw the one they would have liked.
- Photos get lost in the chat and have to be sent again to each person.
- You do not sell out of hours. The eleven-at-night message gets answered at nine in the morning, when the impulse has passed.
- There is no record. Who asked about what, and who is still waiting for an answer, lives in your memory.
None of this is fixed by typing faster. It is fixed by giving the customer somewhere to look before writing.
How it works: the tour shows, WhatsApp closes
The idea is simple. You share a single link. Whoever opens it enters your premises in 360°, walks through the rooms and taps the points you placed on shelves, display cases or tables. Each point shows products with a price, and each product has a button that opens WhatsApp with a message already written that mentions what they are looking at.
The result is that the first message you receive stops being “info” and becomes “Hello, I'm interested in the three-light pendant lamp. Is it available?”. You start the conversation at the point you used to reach after ten messages.
Step 1: put your products on shelves with a price
In ViewNexo, products live in a catalog. You create them in the dashboard with a name, photo, price and availability, and group them in categories. Then, in the tour editor, you place on each shelf a point that refers to a category. That is a Smart Shelf: it shows by itself every product in that category, with up-to-date price and stock.
- One category per shelf or area of the shop. That way the point shows what is really in that place.
- Photo, price and availability on every product. Those are the three questions the customer will no longer ask you.
- Variants if there are any. Sizes, colours or formats, with their price.
- Mark sold-out items as sold out rather than deleting them: the customer sees it exists and asks when it is back.
Because the tour reads from the catalog, changing a price or marking something as sold out shows instantly, with no new photos. And if you have many products, you can load them all together from a spreadsheet. The details are in the products and categories chapter.
For made-to-order pieces or prices that depend on each case, you can hide the price and let people ask. The WhatsApp button is still there.
Step 2: write the message the customer will send you
Each product's WhatsApp button opens the chat with a prepared text. You decide that text. The default template is “Hello, I'm interested in [PRODUCT]. Is it available?”, where [PRODUCT] is replaced automatically by the name of what the customer is looking at.
It is worth adapting to your business. A good prepared message does three things:
- It names the product, so you know what they mean without asking.
- It sounds like a customer, not a form. It will appear in your chat as if the person had written it.
- It asks for what you need to move forward. For example: “Hello, I want [PRODUCT]. Do you deliver to my area?”.
Besides products, you can place stand-alone WhatsApp points where it makes sense: next to the till with “Write to us”, at the entrance with “Have a question?”. And the floating WhatsApp button stays with the visitor throughout the tour. Everything is set up in the editor; the interactive points chapter shows it screen by screen.
Step 3: bookings and quotes for what does not fit in a chat
Not everything is sold by asking “is it available?”. A table for Saturday, a test drive, a made-to-measure piece of furniture or a viewing of a flat needs a date or a detail. For that, each point can, instead of opening WhatsApp, request a booking, a quote or more information.
The customer fills in a short form and the request reaches your dashboard, in the Leads section, with their name, their phone or email and the product or service they were interested in. You also get a notification by email. From there you contact them with one tap, by WhatsApp, call or email, and mark the request as contacted or closed so you know what is still unanswered.
- Restaurants: table bookings and event quotes. Example for restaurants.
- Hotels: booking by room type. Example for hotels.
- Car dealerships: test drive and valuation. Example for car dealerships.
- Workshops and gyms: a service appointment or a trial class. Examples for workshops and gyms.
One difference worth being clear about: WhatsApp clicks do not create a request in your dashboard, because the conversation continues directly on your phone. If you want a record with the customer's details, use the booking or quote form.
Step 4: receive complete orders with the cart
If you sell products the customer can order without consulting you, the next step is the cart, included in the paid plans. The visitor adds products from the tour, chooses in-store pickup or home delivery, applies a coupon if they have one and sends the order.
- The customer taps a product, chooses the variant and quantity, and adds it to the cart.
- They choose how to receive it. For delivery, they select their zone and the cost is added to the total.
- They leave their name and phone. No account is needed.
- They send the order and receive a tracking code. With one tap they send the full summary to your WhatsApp.
- You see it in Orders, confirm it and move the status along until delivery. The customer follows each step on their tracking page.
There is no online payment: you collect as usual, by bank transfer, in cash or with a card terminal, and confirm over WhatsApp. The advantage is that the order reaches you assembled, with products, quantities, total and address, instead of being pieced together message by message. The sales chapter of the tutorial explains delivery zones, coupons and how to handle an order.
Step 5: someone to answer when you are not there
The tour is open at all hours, but you are not. Paid plans include an artificial-intelligence assistant that serves visitors inside the tour: it answers their questions about your business and your products at any time. It does not replace your dealings with the customer; it keeps whoever came in at midnight from leaving without an answer.
Where to put the link so people come in
A tour nobody opens does not sell. These are the places that pay off most, starting with the ones you already use.
On WhatsApp
- Your WhatsApp Business profile: put the link in the website field. It shows every time someone opens your profile.
- Your status: post it with a line whenever new stock arrives or you have a promotion.
- The reply to “info”: instead of sending ten photos, send the link with “Walk through the shop and tell me what you liked”.
- Broadcast lists and customer groups, together with a coupon.
On the door: the QR code
Every published tour has a QR code you download from the dashboard ready to print. Stick it on the door or the shop window with a line such as “Scan and walk the shop in 360°”. That way your shop keeps serving when the shutter is down: whoever passes on a Sunday scans, looks and leaves you a message. It also works well on the counter, on bags, on flyers and on the menu.
On Google Business
Put the tour's link as the website in your business listing. Whoever finds you on the map goes from seeing the address to walking the premises.
On Instagram and Facebook
- Instagram: in the bio links and in stories with the link sticker. Links in posts cannot be tapped, so write “link in bio”.
- Facebook: in a post on your page and in the website field.
- Ads: use the tour as the destination instead of your profile.
The exact steps for each channel are in the chapter Share your tour.
How to know whether it is working
- Visits to the tour: how many people come in. If few, the problem is reach, not the tour.
- Requests in Leads: how many bookings, quotes and information requests arrive, and how many are still unanswered.
- Orders: how many come in, what they add up to and which products sell most.
- The quality of the chats: look at how they begin. If more and more conversations start by naming a product, the tour is doing its job.
Mistakes that cost sales
- A tour without prices. If the customer still has to ask how much it costs, you saved no messages.
- Out-of-date prices. Worse than none. Update them in the catalog the same day they change.
- A WhatsApp number without the country code or mistyped: the button does not open the right chat. Test it from another phone.
- Taking long to reply. Whoever asks for a quote is usually deciding at that moment.
- Sharing the link only once. It belongs in your profile permanently and in your status every week.
Where to start today
- Create your account: the Free plan is free for 3 months, with 1 tour and 10 products.
- Take the photos with your iPhone following how to make a 360° virtual tour with a phone.
- Load your ten most requested products with photo and price, and put them on their shelves.
- Write your WhatsApp message and test it from another phone.
- Publish, put the link in your WhatsApp Business profile and print the QR code for the door.
When you want to receive orders with the cart and add the assistant, you move to a paid plan; each one's limits are in plans and pricing. And if you want to see all this working before building your own, open one of the demos and tap a shelf.