As a reseller, if you are doing business with large customers (B2B or B2G), offering PunchOut is critical to developing long-term business relationship with customers.
As we all know, PunchOut protocol establishes a connection in such a way that any B2B customer can place orders from within their procurement system. The customer is able to view the supplier's website without the need to leave his procurement application.
Ariba Punchout Catalog catalog provides a great amount of convenience in simplifying the B2B ordering process.
The Reason Why B2B Customers demand PunchOut
PunchOut eliminates the need to use login credentials to access the supplier's website. After starting the procurement system, all one has to do is click a link that opens the supplier's site.
PunchOut catalog solution gives customers direct access to their pre-approved catalog. As we all know, every B2B customer makes a contract with the supplier, according to which only specific products are accessible to the customer at a predefined price.
PunchOut protocol takes every B2B customer directly to his pre-approved contract catalog, thereby completely eliminating the tedious task of browsing through non-contract products.
In other words, B2B customers don't have to do unnecessary browsing to view their pre-approved catalog.
In a B2B environment, there exists an approval workflow that needs to be followed before placing any order. B2B customers using PunchOut can easily follow their pre-established approval workflow. In other words, they don't have to compromise their approval workflow to use their PeopleSoft PunchOut catalog.
Once the order has been approved via the approval workflow, the customer has the option to place the order electronically. Electronic order placement will inject speed into the ordering process.
Customers also have access to real-time pricing and inventory. PunchOut completely eliminates the reloading process to view the updated catalog.
PunchOut connection is established in such a way that any changes made in the contract catalog by the supplier are immediately available to the customer at his end.
Updated inventory and pricing data is always available to the customers while making purchases. No question of accessing outdated information to place orders.
From the Supplier's Point of View
Suppliers too can reap plenty of benefits by providing PunchOut to users of SAP catalog solution. For instance, suppliers can provide different product configurations, which can play a key role in increasing your sales.
Moreover, suppliers also have to deal with fewer ordering issues. This is because customers have no access to non-contract products. Hence, there is no scope for selecting products from the non-contract catalog.
On the whole, there is little doubt that offering PunchOut-enabled sites will give you an edge over your competitors. It is a proven way to attract and retain large customers.
Experts opine that PunchOut has now become a mandatory requirement in order to seal deals with potential B2B and B2G customers. The ease at which PunchOut protocol connects customers to an external site makes the ordering process simpler.
So the next time you feel that your business is unable to attract large customers, think about implementing PunchOut.
Arnaldo is an American writer for various digital news publications. After being in the ecommerce industry for more than 15 years, he has a good understanding of what it takes to make an ecommerce business successful.