Why is punchout becoming so popular? A punchout catalog eliminates the need for manual order entry and allows a shopping cart to be transferred directly back to the procurement system for approval. Your customer maintains all the products in one eCommerce system to keep inventory and pricing information up to date, rather than having to manually post files that are out of date the day after they’re posted. Punchout offers organizations another channel to conduct business with their customers, and it usually speeds up the payment process because it’s all automated within the eProcurement system.
Organizations invest in eProcurement to consolidate and automate the spend process. Punchout is a way to connect a suppliers’ eCommerce catalog directly to the procurement system. Businesses benefiting from a punchout solution typically serve the B2B markets. They sell to large corporations, universities, hospitals, and various forms of government.
Every organization has a different checklist when setting up its supplier punchout marketplace, but it usually encompasses suppliers that they do the most amount of business with yearly. Most organizations require suppliers to have a certain level of spend to be considered a punchout candidate because they have to dedicate resources on their end to on-board the vendor. Companies are not ordering a custom $100,000 refrigeration machine from a punchout catalog. However, they do buy items that are easy to ship and repeatedly requested, including office supplies, computer, and electronic products, electrical supplies, laboratory supplies, etc.
Punchout Catalog Checklist
• B2B product offerings, such as laboratory supplies, electrical supplies, or office supplies
• Sells to enterprise customers
• Connects to an eProcurement system to submit invoices
• Has multiple storefronts and different pricing structures for various buyers
• Requests features like custom quoting, quick ordering, and login portals for specific buyers.
Do you have customers that could benefit from these types of solutions than they may be a good fit for a punchout catalog? Contact us to talk about your customers.