If you’ve been following our series on the steps of a Punchout Catalog you’ve already read about the Punchout Setup Request, Punchout Edit and Inspect and Punchout Catalog Automation via cXML Purchase Orders. Once you receive an electronic Purchase Order the product/service can be fulfilled and the item sent out to the customer. But how does the customer know the item was shipped? Here are two options:

  • Email Notification
  • Advanced Ship Notice

The simple answer is to send an email to the customer indicating the order has shipped, including the carrier and the tracking number if applicable. This option works very well for those customers who have items shipped to an individual user and not a centralized warehouse. For those customers that wish to track items centrally in their e-Procurement system we recommend an advanced ship notification. An advanced shipment notice is an order message that is sent to an e-Procurement system instead of an email. The advanced shipment notice contains:

  • The items that were shipped
  • The carrier with which the items were shipped
  • Any tracking numbers

If one of your buyers requires advanced shipment notices via cXML, contact us today at 1-877-415-3237 or use the form to the right.