5 Ways Procurement Departments Benefits from Punchout Catalogs
What is Punchout? It is a way to connect directly to the supplier’s catalog from an application such as procurement systems and purchase to pay software. Via this protocol, buyers can order from within their purchasing system with a direct access to negotiated catalogs via the web.
I recently conducted a survey with our customers regarding the purchasing process trends and I discovered an increasing part of our clients use punchout catalogs (31%).
By being compatible with OCI and cXML formats, Corcentric allows the integration of all suppliers with a punch-out platform and our recent partnership with Punchout2Go, a punchout gateway solution provider enables all kind of vendors to have punch-out capacities (not only big companies and large government organizations).
So what are the main benefits? Here is 5 reasons to use punchout catalogs.
No Maintenance
Using punchout, there is no charge related to the publication and maintenance of the catalog on your side. Punchout catalogs do need to be maintained, but it is done on the supplier’s side. What’s great for your organization is that you don’t need to spend time or money on the maintenance. Also, using punchout catalogs you will eliminate the risk of creating errors during the maintenance process.
Better Information
As punchout catalogs are maintained by suppliers and available online, buyers can find better details about items such as availability, current discounts and related shipping costs. The suppliers usually update this information in real-time.
Simplified and Centralized Purchasing
By accessing catalogs from within their e-procurement software, procurement managers and other users can enjoy their negotiated prices with preferred vendors. As all the catalogs are centralized in one application, it also promotes purchasing consolidation and better spend management.
E-commerce like Shopping Experience
Integrating punchout catalogs within a procurement system will simplify the buying process by letting users conduct product searches within their own application. For instance, Corcentric’s users can do everything from their application using the intuitive interface they know and love. No need to go from one website to another to look for the right product anymore. Since they are already comfortable with the UI, they can easily find the items they are looking for. This ensures a great user and shopping experience similar to what you would find on Amazon or Google.
Better Productivity
Using online automation, buyers enhances their productivity due to faster order processing. This is part of what we do here at Corcentric, automate and optimize the entire purchasing cycle to maximize the impact of your resources.
BONUS: B2B Integration
If you want to go further, procurement software like Corcentric offers what is called “B2B Integration”. It allows you to directly send an order and receive invoices via the system instead of using emails. This will streamline and automate the purchasing process even more so you can gain productivity. Further integration with our robust AP Automation solution, and you’ve got a fast, efficient, P2P machine from end-to-end.
What other benefits do you see in Punchout? I would love to discuss it!