A punchout catalog is an integrated connection to a buyers e-procurement or ERP system that presents your goods and services to the buyer on your website. The catalog integration happens over cXML or OCI standards and allows the buyer to “punch out” to your application. This integration allows the user to find items on your catalog and return them to their platform for workflow approval, accounting assignment and additional steps.

In the punchout process the first step is to create a shopping cart in your punchout enabled catalog. The cart is then transferred to the external system to complete the punchout process. In our solution these are called transferred carts and the application keeps a grid showing the carts that have been transferred to external eProcurement and ERP systems.

After approval, the cart is converted to a purchase order and routed back to your system in the form of an order. It is important to keep in mind that a transferred cart is not yet an order and can be cancelled or modified before the purchase order is returned.