eProcurement and PunchOut Integration can be new to many organizations. However, it is important to have a solid understanding of these concepts both as a buyer and supplier. We prepared a list of terms to get you familiar with the space. Let us know in the comments if you think we need to add anything!

Advanced Shipment Notice; a document that provides information about an upcoming shipment to a customer

Business to Business commerce or transactions

Business to Consumer (or end user) commerce transactions

Purchasing environment in which the customer only has access to a certain suite of products, likely all from the same supplier

Common Business Library; a document framework that allows creation of detailed, reusable, XML documents for e-commerce

Sell a different product or service to an existing customer

Software used to facilitate B2B transactions on an eCommerce site setup to handle B2C transactions

Protocol, created by Ariba, intended for the communication of business documents between procurement applications and e-commerce sites

Commercial transactions conducted electronically on the internet

The business to business (B2B) process of requisitioning, ordering, and purchasing goods and services over the internet

Enterprise Resource Planning, a business process management software that allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage business and automate many back-office functions related to technology, services and human resources

Software providing transactional integration between eProcurement systems and ecommerce providers

Purchasing of goods and services that are not directly incorporated into a product being manufactured

Document issued by the seller to the buyer, indicating the products, quantities, and agreed prices for a sale as well as the buyer’s payment terms

Agreement between the buyer and supplier on product pricing

Open Catalogs Interface; B2B mechanism that allows buyers to punchout to and purchase from suppliers

Document sent from vendor or supplier to the buyer to avoid confusion about order specifics

The act of obtaining goods or services for business purposes

An integrated connection to a buyers e-procurement or ERP system that presents goods and services to the buyer on the supplier’s website

A request sent by the eProcurement system to the punchout catalog that validates user credentials and authorization

Document issued by a buyer to a supplier that indicates types, quantities and agreed prices for products or services

The process of requesting quotes for new products, obtaining vendor information and uploading it into your procurement software, determining the lead time, pricing, and minimum order quantities

The process of identifying, gathering, and analyzing your organizations spend data with the objective being to decrease procurement expenses

Selling strategy that encourages the customer to purchase more expensive items or buy add-on items

A person or company offering something for sale