Why a buyer may ask for PunchOut
PunchOut lets the buyer shop on the supplier site while keeping the requisition and approval process in procurement. It is useful when the supplier has a broad, configurable or frequently changing catalog that is better maintained in the supplier's ecommerce operation.
The supplier can keep the Shopify or Shopify Plus catalog and return the selected cart to procurement rather than building a separate static catalog for every buyer.
When a hosted catalog may be a better fit
A hosted or buyer-maintained catalog can be useful when the buyer needs local search, internal classification or tightly controlled item content. It also creates a content-maintenance responsibility inside the buyer's procurement process.
The right answer is often buyer-specific. Ask where the buyer needs product data, pricing and search to live before choosing the catalog model.
Questions for the buyer conversation
- Does the buyer need to open the supplier store from procurement?
- How often do product, price, availability or configuration details change?
- Does the buyer need local search before opening the supplier site?
- Who owns catalog updates and approval of item changes?
- What must be returned in the requisition and purchase order?
Reference material
These primary-source references explain the general protocol or catalog concepts. Buyer-specific implementation requirements still take precedence.