Questions to ask yourself when preparing for a Punchout / Punch out

Please ensure you know the principles of a punch out and which one is best for you. See here for more info: Preparing for a website Punchout

PUNCH OUT TO THE SHOP

1. Will the punchout send a unique user ID which we can use to create user accounts, or will everyone use the same user account?

2. Will the punchout send a return URL (where users link to after completing an order), or is there a fixed return URL?

3. Will orders be logged under one customer account, or one account per user?

4. Default Email Address for Punchout Users - email address is used if a punchout user has no email address

5. Default Phone Number for Punchout Users - phone number is used if a punchout user has no phone number

6. Will users pay by credit card, or on account, or take the order back into their purchasing system?

7. If paying by credit card do you have a payment provider to process payments e.g Paypal?

8. Is the punchout using OCI (applies to SAP, Perfect Commerce, Basware and others), or cXML (applies to Ariba and others), or a custom system for which a full specification will be provided?

9. Should multiple currencies and/or languages be available? If so, does the punchout send the user's preferred country and/or currency?

ORDERING PROCESS, if applicable:

1. Should the addresses and notes be hidden on the basket and checkout if they are not being used?

2. Should shipping be calculated at this stage? (may require a delivery address to be entered)

3. Will any products be using additional costs or options? (eg. print positions, optional extras)

4. For OCI style punchouts, do you want any extra product info on a separate line or in the LONGTEXT field?

5. Does any tax information need to be sent?

6. What should the default commodity code be for products? (typically 80141605, the UNSPSC code for Promotional Merchandise)

7. What are the max field lengths for product name and description - for OCI systems, name ("DESCRIPTION") is usually 40 or 200 characters, and description ("LONGTEXT") usually 2000. For cXML systems there is generally no specified limit.

ELECTRONIC PURCHASE ORDERS, if applicable:

1. Will purchase orders be sent back to the shop, for example via XML? (In most cases POs will be sent by email or fax)

2. Will they be sent using cXML, SAPXML, or another system?

3. Should shipping be re-calculated based on the delivery address in the PO? (NOTE - this could cause a discrepancy between the PO and Invoice!)

4. Can users create POs using lines from multiple past punchout sessions?

5. Can users create POs manually? (eg. without punching out to the website?)

6. Can users edit the quantities in their system before sending a PO? (the shop will reject orders where a quantity has been reduced, but will allow the quantity to be increased)

7. Will there be any orders for fully custom products? (eg. using a special product code, with price and description from a manually created quote)

8. What taxes will apply to the POs?

9. What currency will POs be in?