Why Level 1 PunchOut Catalog is so Popular?

As a supplier, are you looking for a way that would make it easy to do B2B business with your customers? Well, you can completely depend on PunchOut, commonly referred to as Level 1 PunchOut. It is a protocol that has eliminated the drudgery associated with CIF catalog. If you want to sell your products to Fortune 500 companies or government/state organizations, it has become mandatory to make your site PunchOut-enabled.

Level 1 PunchOut catalog is extremely important if you are serious about growing your business with B2B customers. These large customers use a procurement system for purchasing products. PunchOut integrates the procurement application with the supplier’s site.

The protocol gives customers direct access to his Contract catalog (that contain the agreed negotiated items and prices) with a single click. They have access to up to date and accurate list of catalog items. Moreover, B2B customers find it incredibly simple to place orders using PunchOut solution.

In a PunchOut session, the connection is maintained even after the customer checks out from the supplier’s site. As a result, the shopping cart comes back to the procurement system. This step is necessary as the cart will require approval from the higher authority in a B2B environment. Upon receiving approval, a purchase order (PO) is electronically sent to the supplier.

Thus, the approval workflow of B2B customers is maintained when using this protocol. No wonder, more and more enterprise level customer want to connect with their suppliers using the PunchOut protocol.

Apart from the standard cXML format, PunchOut connectivity can also be initiated using OCI, XML and XCBL. On the whole, Level 1 PunchOut makes your website usable for B2B customers using procurement system. It will surely help to earn the confidence of large customers and moreover make it easy for you to expand this business.