How B2B PunchOut has Simplified the Procurement Process?

Punchout Procurement Process

Before the concept of PunchOut, it was CIF catalog used for conducting transactions between the customer's procurement application and the supplier's site. However, one of the major disadvantages of CIF catalog is its inability to connect with external sites.

CIF Catalog - Tedious and Painstaking

Before you create your product catalog in CIF format, you have to enter all your product information in excel sheets. Once this is done, you have to convert the spreadsheet into CIF format. The CIF catalog is then loaded in the customer's procurement application.

Also, CIF catalog being a static catalog is extremely difficult to maintain. Updating product information is time-consuming as making simple changes will require re-submitting the entire catalog to the customer.

On the other hand, a PunchOut catalog allows suppliers to change product attributes without the need to re-index the entire database. This is because the catalog comes with dynamic capabilities.

If the supplier changes the price of the product, there is no need to update the product price on every page of the catalog. Update the product price just once to notice the change at all other places in the catalog.

PunchOut Catalog - The Game Changer

Another downside of CIF catalog is that data cannot be transferred automatically between systems. Buyers have to reload the updated catalog in their procurement system to view the changes.

Instead of dealing with this tedious activity, why not go for B2B PunchOut that offers a better way to handle the procurement process. PunchOut is a protocol that is specifically designed to bring efficiency in the procurement process of B2B customers.

With PunchOut, B2B transactions are more efficient. B2B buyers don't have to worry about whether they are ordering their contract products. This is because PunchOut protocol does not provide access to non-contract products.

When buyers log into their procurement system and click on the PunchOut link, they reach to their respective contract catalogs. The contract catalog is also referred to as PunchOut catalog that is customized as per the buyer's needs. The products and their prices in the SAP PunchOut catalog are negotiated and pre-approved.

Automatic Data Exchange

Oracle Cloud PunchOut can exchange information between the procurement system and the supplier's site. PunchOut allows buyers to place orders from within their own procurement system.

After adding products to the cart, the buyer closes the PunchOut session. The cart instead of moving to checkout, returns to the procurement system. In PunchOut, the cart follows a different checkout process, which is in compliant with the buyer's approval workflow. PunchOut ensures that the buyer's approval process is followed before placing the order.

Once the cart has been accepted, buyers don't have to waste time in emailing the quote. They can create and send an electronic purchase order with a single click of a mouse.

The PunchOut catalog is customizable, which enables the suppliers to design the catalog as per their needs. They can change the color scheme, add graphics, and make it more enticing. PunchOut catalog is user-friendly that comes with a range of customization options.

Invest in Business Marketing

Marketing is an important aspect of B2B organization that you can easily implement using PunchOut. PunchOut catalog empowers suppliers to implement a range of marketing strategies to improve sales.

Get your message across by exploring multiple marketing options. For instance, suppliers can display upsell/cross-sell products to increase average order value and overall business revenue.

Directly Access Contract Catalog

Every B2B buyer makes a unique contract with the supplier that allows the buyer to access specific products at special pricing. PunchOut mechanism ensures that buyers can view their contract catalog only. This is one of the biggest plus points of PunchOut that eliminates sifting through the entire supplier catalog.

Just imagine browsing through non-contract products to locate contract products. Once the right product has been located, the buyer then calculates the contract pricing. Won't these activities make the buying process cumbersome?

With PunchOut, these tiring activities are completely eliminated as contractual products and terms are visible only to the buyer.

Product Information Available in Real-Time

Also, any changes in CIF catalog are visible to the buyers only when they reload it into their procurement system. With Oracle PunchOut catalog, any modifications in product pricing or inventory count are instantly accessible to the buyers.

With PunchOut, buyers get access to real-time pricing and availability information. Any updates in product data are available to the buyer in real-time.