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How to open a Telegram Mini App shop: catalog, bot, first orders

Telegram Mini App

Telegram shop

How to

You already decided to sell in Telegram. This guide is the how: open a Mini App shop that shows your catalog, takes an order, and lands it on one board — without rebuilding a full website first.

It is not another “marketplace vs own channel” essay (see sell on Telegram without a marketplace). It is the checklist CIS product shops use in the first week.

What “open a Mini App shop” means

A Telegram Mini App shop is a small web UI inside Telegram that:

  • lists products from your catalog;
  • lets a buyer pick items and place an order;
  • passes that order (and buyer identity) into your CRM / order board.

Buyers stay in Telegram. You stay on one product + stock + order system.

Setup flow for a Telegram Mini App shop: bot, catalog, orders

Step 1 — Prepare the catalog (before the bot)

  1. Add 10–30 real SKUs with photos and prices.
  2. If you sell apparel or gifts with options, set variants (size/color) now — not after the first oversell.
  3. Enter free stock on the warehouse side. Free stock is what you can sell; reserved is already promised.

If the catalog is empty, the Mini App is an empty room. Fix products first.

Step 2 — Create the bot and attach the Mini App

  1. Create a bot with BotFather (name + username customers will trust).
  2. In your CRM / Telegram shop settings, connect the bot token.
  3. Attach the Mini App shop URL to the bot menu button so buyers open the catalog in one tap.

Test from a second Telegram account: open the bot → Menu → shop loads your products.

Step 3 — Place a test order end-to-end

  1. Add an item to cart in the Mini App.
  2. Submit the order.
  3. Confirm it appears on the order board with the Telegram buyer linked.
  4. Check that stock reserved (or free stock dropped) for that SKU.

If the order stays only in chat history, the shop is not connected. Fix the CRM link before inviting real traffic.

Step 4 — Soft launch in your existing chats

Do not buy ads yet. For 3–7 days:

  • pin the bot in your channel / story / Instagram bio;
  • answer DMs with “order in the Mini App” instead of sending price lists;
  • watch which products open and which orders stall.

That feedback tells you what to photograph again and what to drop from the catalog.

Step 5 — Daily ops after go-live

  • Morning: confirm new Mini App orders; reserve or release stock.
  • Day: fulfill and write off on handoff / ship.
  • Week: remove dead SKUs; add bestsellers with clearer photos.

For how CRM traces Mini App opens and carts, see CRM for a Telegram shop. For stock discipline, see warehouse for a Telegram shop.

Common blockers (and quick fixes)

  • Shop opens but no products — catalog empty or not published to the Mini App channel.
  • Orders without stock change — reservation not enabled; turn on reserve-on-order.
  • Buyer not linked — bot / Mini App auth not connected; re-check token and menu URL.
  • Oversell in DMs — staff still quoting from memory; force “check free stock in CRM” before promising.

What success looks like in week one

You have a bot menu that opens your catalog, at least a handful of real Mini App orders on the board, and stock that matches what you promised. That is an open shop — not a landing page promise.

Start from the product side: catalog + Mini App + warehouse in one Basic plan. Fashion vertical: /en/fashion/.

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