Why B2B Customers ask for PunchOut Integration

Large clients, commonly referred to as B2B customers want PunchOut integration to connect with their seller. The reason is simple: It has plenty of advantages for both the buyer as well as the seller. The most important benefit is that it brings great amount of convenience while purchasing.

PunchOut catalog is a connection that brings the seller’s ecommerce site directly inside the buyer’s eprocurement system. So even if the site is located on a remote server, the buyers can open the site in a single mouse click. No logging using username and password is required to access the site.

Also with PunchOut integration, you directly access your pre-approved product catalog. No spending time and energy in browsing through non-catalog items. So there is no question of creating an order that contains non-contract products.

Also unlike CIF catalog, PunchOut is a dynamic product, which means any changes in the seller’s contract catalog are directly visible to the buyer in real time. So even if the product pricing or the availability status of a product is updated, the buyer can know the changes in real time. This eliminates the need to upload updated catalog into the buyer’s eprocurement system.

Also in a B2B environment, the procurement manager has no right to approve products. So the products that have been added in the shopping cart using the procurement system will require confirmation from the higher authority.

The PunchOut catalog solution has been designed keeping the B2B approval process in mind. So the shopping cart containing the selected products is transferred back to the buyer’s eprocurement system to get order confirmation. This gives the management real time visibility of the products that will be ordered. Upon receiving the approval, the seller is notified electronically, who then starts processing the order immediately.

Considering the many benefits of PunchOut, there is little wonder that large buyers want PunchOut integration for conducting business transactions with their sellers.