Catalog Management - An Integral Part of Procurement Process

Effective catalog management has become critical for suppliers to support procurement process for various B2B customers. These are large customers that have specific contract that allow them to view and purchase products from suppliers. A Catalog management software will allow suppliers to display the right products to the customers. It ensures that the products displayed meet the buyer’s requirement.
Suppliers that take their catalog management seriously are able to provide a flawless procurement process to their customers. Customers are able to select their contract products effortlessly and ensure compliance to their established rules. Large buyers do not follow the traditional buying process like B2C customers. They have a specific approval process while ordering products. However, it can become an uphill task if the approval workflow is hindering the purchasing process.

Procurement in a B2B environment will require policing, but that doesn’t means it should become a tedious process for buyers. Ariba catalog solution will make it easier to handle approval process for buyers. PunchOut provides the ability to connect supplier’s online portal with the customer’s procurement application. This helps in speeding up the purchasing process as PunchOut supports electronic ordering.

The buyer gets direct access to his pre-approved contract catalog. He can view and do the purchasing from within his own procurement system. Also, the buyer can follow the established approval process decided for purchasing products.
Procurement users will face a lot of problems in buying products if the supplier’s online portal doesn’t have a proper catalog management system. Catalog management is all about preventing maverick spending. Rogue purchases can ruin the buyer’s organization, hence should be eliminated. Overspending can be easily avoided by using Ariba PunchOut.

An intuitive search function is another important criteria. As a supplier, your online catalog should allow customers to search products using different criteria. Ability to browse and search products is a pre-requisite if suppliers want to be successful in their business.
Another important part of catalog management is keeping the catalog up-to-date. An appropriate tool will ensure that the supplier’s catalog is updated regularly. So whenever the stock quantity changes or the supplier modifies product pricing, it will be reflected in the catalog itself. A SAP PunchOut catalog will make it easy for suppliers to update catalog. Unlike CIF catalog, updating PunchOut catalog is not a tiring process. Whether it is about adding or deleting products from the catalog, it can be done easily with PunchOut protocol.

On the whole, if you want your large buyers to procure products electronically from your online store, it is imperative to give prime importance to SAP catalog solution. It can help to streamline your procurement process. The way you manage your catalog can play a key role in providing a customized shopping experience to customers. In fact, it can give your customers an Amazon.com like shopping experience to your buyers. Purchase order accuracy too gets a major boost. Moreover, you can ensure compliance with the procurement process. If you want to get ahead and stay ahead in business, you simply cannot ignore catalog management.