When Should Suppliers Incorporate PunchOut Catalog into their Business

As a supplier, you will need PunchOut catalog, when your B2B customer is changing catalog frequently (say every one or two months), it doesn’t make use CIF format for electronic transfer of data. It is a nightmare for suppliers when the customer wants to change the catalog every now and then.

The update process of CIF catalog is a time-taking task. So even if you want to update just one product, say it’s pricing or description, it is a labor-intensive activity. Also, the changes made in the CIF catalog are not immediately available to the customer. This is because the updated customer file has to be then downloaded by the customer on his procurement system which is equally time consuming.

So instead of spending time endlessly with CIF catalog, why not use PunchOut, a protocol that makes it ridiculously easy to make changes in customer catalog. Discontinuing or adding a new product can be done without modifying the entire catalog. Moreover, the updated catalog can be viewed immediately in real time by the customer.

Another reason to choose PunchOut is when the customer’s catalog size is large, say anywhere between 8 to 10 MB. Larger the file size, more the time spent in updating the CIF catalog. Such large files contain thousands of products, hence replacing the entire catalog for a small change is not advisable.

When customer’s catalog is complex containing customizable or configurable products using a CIF catalog is a strict no-no. This is because it is a line item catalog and does not support configurability and moreover visual display is also absent. You need to follow a specific format while entering product information in CIF catalog, which makes it to impossible to add configurations.

SAP, Oracle and Coupa are some of the popular PunchOut providers that you can trust. Whether you use SAP PunchOut or any other provider, you are sure to benefit from it. From streamlining purchasing process to reducing order errors, it can do wonders for your business.

On the whole, it really doesn’t matter from which company you take service. Choose Coupa PunchOut or any other company but get rid of CIF catalog as PunchOut is a far better option to electronically communicate a product or service to the buyer.