PunchOut E-commerce: What It Is and Why It Matters

What is PunchOut?

PunchOut is a technology that allows a buyer to access a supplier’s online store directly from their own procurement system. The customer shops just as they would in any regular online store, but with one key difference: instead of completing the checkout in the store, the shopping cart is sent back to the procurement system for further handling (e.g., approvals and final order placement).

The name PunchOut comes from the idea that the user temporarily “punches out” from their procurement system into the supplier’s store—without ever really leaving their workflow.

How does it work?

Through an integration with the buyer’s procurement system, the customer can put together a shopping cart in your online store, and then return to the procurement system to complete the order. A typical flow looks like this:

1. The buyer logs into their procurement system.
2. The buyer selects to “punch out” to your online store.
3. In your store, the buyer is automatically logged in and sees their correct assortment, prices, and promotions.
4. The buyer adds products to a shopping cart.
5. Instead of checking out in your store, the buyer sends the cart back to the procurement system.
6. Back in the procurement system, the buyer completes the order according to their normal process.

 

Giving Buyers a Better User Experience

Procurement systems often have advanced interfaces but lack features tailored to product discovery. They typically do not hold as much product information as your online store. This makes it difficult for buyers to find the right product among thousands of SKUs. Filters may be limited, search is often less intuitive, and procurement systems don’t always understand product variants, families, or bundles.

Your online store, however, is designed for your products. It can guide buyers to the right items through:

• A product category structure tailored to your assortment
• A robust search function that leverages all product data
• Clear presentation of product variants and filter options
• Detailed product information, including images, documents, and videos
• Sales arguments presented in ways that procurement systems can’t replicate

In addition, with buyers inside your store, you can provide easier access to sales and customer support—for example, via live chat.

 

PunchOut vs. EDI vs. Procurement Systems

It’s easy to mix up PunchOut and EDI, but they serve different purposes:

• PunchOut manages the process between the procurement system and your online store.
• EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) handles the exchange of documents between systems—such as order confirmations and invoices.
• Procurement system (e.g., Visma Proceedo, SAP Ariba) is the customer’s internal platform for creating, approving, and following up on purchases. PunchOut integrates with this system.

With EDI, companies can electronically send orders, stock levels, and invoices directly from one ERP to another. EDI is widely used in B2B for automated order flows, such as replenishment orders under existing contracts.

PunchOut differs from EDI in that PunchOut supports the buyer’s manual process of browsing and selecting products to purchase. Once the cart is transferred back into the procurement system, EDI can then be used to send the actual order electronically.

 

What Are the Benefits of PunchOut?

• Fast and easy ordering – users get a modern shopping experience in your online store compared to buying directly within their procurement system.
• Updated assortment and fewer errors – the customer sees only their contracted products and prices.
• Less manual work – no need for static product catalogs.
• Time savings – the process is fully automated from shopping cart to order.
• Full control – everything happens within the framework of the procurement system’s structure and rules.
• Brand visibility – your store becomes part of the buyer’s daily workflow, giving your brand more exposure.

 

Getting Started with PunchOut

How do you get started with PunchOut? At Rove, we work with Shopspray’s PunchOut solution for the Litium e-commerce platform.

👉 Read Part 2 to learn how to implement PunchOut and which procurement systems are supported.