What is typical punchout flow

As we all know, large organizations, be it government or corporates commonly use a procurement system to manage their online purchasing process. PunchOut is a protocol that provides a way to connect the procurement application with the supplier’s site. Some of the most popular procurement systems like Ariba, JD Edwards, and PeopleSoft Punchout can be integrated with the supplier’s site using the PunchOut protocol. In the following blog, the steps required to complete a PunchOut session are explained:

Typical PunchOut Flow

1)   The buyer accesses his procurement system by entering the right login credentials (username/password).

2)   The buyer then clicks the PunchOut link located on the procurement screen. Clicking the link launches the supplier’s site and the buyer is able to view the supplier’s contract catalog within his procurement system. In simple words, the buyer “punches out” from his system and directly lands on the supplier’s catalog.

3)  The supplier’s catalog will contain pre-negotiated products and pricing as agreed in the contract. The buyer can now explore the catalog extensively and search for products to buy.

4)  The buyer can then do shopping like he does from any other site. He can select products and then add them to the shopping cart.

5)  Upon proceeding to checkout, the cart returns to the procurement system. In other words, when the PunchOut session is closed, orders are not sent to the supplier. This is because the cart requires approval from the management authority, hence is pushed back to the buyer’s procurement application.

6)  Once in the procurement system, the cart is routed for approval. During the approval process, cart items might be deleted/added, or the entire order can be canceled.

7)  In case the cart is approved, the buyer will create and send a purchase order to the supplier. The purchase order will be sent electronically, via email, etc.

PunchOut Advantages

One of the biggest advantages of PunchOut protocol is that it simplifies the purchasing a process of B2B/B2G. Large customers now expect their suppliers to provide PunchOut to simplify their business transactions.

From the buyer’s perspective, it eliminates the need to browse through the entire supplier catalog. Just a single click from the procurement system gives the buyer direct access to his contract catalog containing pre-approved products and pricing. As a result, the buyer doesn’t have to manually calculate pricing agreed in the contract. Moreover, buyers have access to their contract catalog only, which means no longer dealing with maverick or off-contract spending. Also, being a dynamic product, PunchOut provides real-time access to product pricing and availability. So when the supplier adds/deletes products or changes product pricing, they are instantly reflected in the PunchOut catalog

From the supplier’s perspective, the PunchOut catalog allows suppliers to display the products in an attractive way. With CIF catalog, suppliers can present their products only in list format. With PunchOut, suppliers can display configurations as well as market their products in a variety of ways. Most importantly, PunchOut implementation improves customer relationship as it makes it easy for B2B/B2G buyers to shop online. This can go a long way in increasing profitability and overall company growth.