Commerce

Win the enterprise clients who require PunchOut compliance

Large corporate buyers can only purchase from PunchOut-enabled suppliers. Zigaflow connects your storefront to their procurement system - buyers browse your catalog, submit a cart, and an approved purchase order lands in Zigaflow automatically. No email, no re-keying, no chasing approvals.

cXML Punchout - Live ConnectionZigaflowYour product catalogueCotton Tote · TB-019 · £3.85Polo Shirt · CPW-001 · £4.85Hoodie · HFN-042 · £12.50Live catalogueAlways current pricescXML ProtocolPunchOutSetupRequestOrderMessage (PO)PO captured in ZigaflowBuyer ProcurementERP / Purchasing systemSAP AribaCoupaJaggaerIssues PO automaticallyNo email. No re-entry.Connection live· 0 lines of code · No developer · No custom domain neededZigaflow handles the entire cXML integration
100%

Of approved purchase orders arrive in Zigaflow automatically - no manual data entry, no transcription errors, no chasing confirmation emails from corporate buyers.

4x

Enterprise buyers take significantly longer to switch away from PunchOut-enabled suppliers - procurement re-integrations require months of IT work and internal process change.

Zero

Manual steps between your buyer's procurement approval and your team receiving a structured, confirmed purchase order in Zigaflow - the PO arrives automatically.

What is it?

The procurement bridge your enterprise clients are waiting for

Many of the most valuable buyers in industries like promotional merchandise, office furniture, and audio-visual don't shop through a website or send emails. They work inside corporate procurement systems - SAP Ariba, Coupa, Jaggaer, Oracle - and they can only buy from suppliers whose catalog is directly connected. If you're not PunchOut enabled, you're simply not on their approved supplier list, regardless of how competitive your pricing is or how strong your service record. PunchOut is the integration that removes that barrier and puts your business in front of buyers who have allocated budget and are ready to spend.

The process works in four stages. A corporate buyer opens their procurement system and clicks through to your Zigaflow-powered storefront - this is the punch out. They browse your catalog, configure items, and build their order exactly as any customer would. When they're done, they don't check out in the traditional sense - instead, the cart punches back to their system as a purchase requisition. That requisition routes through their internal approval workflow - line managers, budget holders, finance. Once approved, the purchase order is sent electronically straight into Zigaflow, ready for your team to action.

The business case goes beyond just winning one account. Once you're embedded in a buyer's procurement system as an approved PunchOut supplier, switching to a competitor requires them to go through a full re-integration - months of IT work and procurement red tape. That makes PunchOut a retention tool as much as an acquisition one. For suppliers in promotional merchandise, construction, or AV, a handful of enterprise accounts procured this way can represent a significant and predictable slice of annual revenue, without the margin pressure that often comes with large buyer negotiations.

On the Zigaflow side, PunchOut works alongside your existing order and fulfilment workflow. Incoming POs from connected buyer systems drop directly into your orders pipeline, where they follow the same process as any other job - works orders raised, stock checked via inventory management, delivery notes generated, and invoices sent when complete. There's no separate system to manage, no double-entry between platforms, and no manual step where errors creep in. Your team picks up a structured, approved order and gets to work - the same process they follow every day, just without the data entry that used to come before it.

What you can do
✓
Connect to SAP Ariba, Coupa and Jaggaer
✓
Buyers authenticate automatically from their system
✓
Account-specific pricing per corporate buyer
✓
Approved POs land in Zigaflow automatically
✓
Support bespoke and non-catalog orders
✓
Send invoices and shipping updates back to buyer
✓
One catalog serves all buyer types
✓
Plugs into your existing order workflow
Common problems

Sound familiar?

01

Locked Out of Enterprise Supplier Lists

The problem
Corporate procurement teams at large organisations don't shop freely - they work within a closed list of pre-approved suppliers, and that list is governed by their procurement system. If you're not registered as a PunchOut-enabled supplier, you don't appear in that system at all. It doesn't matter how competitive your pricing is, how fast your turnaround is, or how long you've been trading. From the buyer's perspective, if you don't connect to their platform, you can't receive their orders, and they simply move to a supplier who can.
How Zigaflow fixes it
Zigaflow's PunchOut integration enables you to register as an approved supplier on the major procurement platforms - SAP Ariba, Coupa, Jaggaer, and others. Once connected, your catalog is accessible directly inside the buyer's procurement environment. You become a visible, selectable option for every buyer inside that organisation, rather than an outside vendor they have to work around. Combined with your eCommerce storefront, you can serve both procurement-led buyers and standard online customers from within the same Zigaflow system.
GlobalCorp Procurement PortalApproved Supplier Registry — Branded GoodsSupplierPunchOutEDIStatusAcme Print Co.✓✓ApprovedGlobal Merch Ltd✓✓ApprovedYour Business✗✓BlockedPromo Direct✓✓ApprovedYour Business is not PunchOut-enabled.All purchases must be placed through approved suppliers only.Your pricing and service record are irrelevant here.If you are not in their system, you are not in the running.
02

Hours Wasted Re-keying Purchase Orders

The problem
Even when you do win a corporate account, the order process is often slow and error-prone. The buyer's procurement system generates a purchase order as a PDF or email, your team receives it, and someone manually transcribes the line items, quantities, part numbers, and delivery details into your system. It takes time that could be spent on fulfilment, and every manual step is an opportunity for a transcription error - wrong quantities, incorrect product codes, missed delivery instructions - that surfaces later as a dispute or return.
How Zigaflow fixes it
With PunchOut enabled in Zigaflow, incoming purchase orders from connected procurement systems arrive directly in your orders pipeline as structured, digital data - not PDFs, not emails. The item codes, quantities, pricing, and delivery details transfer electronically from the buyer's system to yours without any human intervention. Your team opens the order and everything needed to action it is already there. That removes hours of admin per week across large-account fulfilment and eliminates the category of error that only happens when a human copies data between systems.
Inbox (4 unread)GlobalCorpPO_8821_v3_FINAL.pdf09:14Hartfield plcPurchase Order July.pdf08:52NovaCorp LtdPO-NC-2024-441.pdfTueHartfield plcPO REVISED see notes.pdfMonManual EntryITEM DESCRIPTIONCotton Tote BagPRODUCT CODETB-019-NATQUANTITY500UNIT PRICE£3.00 — PDF says £3.85?Line 1 of 14 items~25 minutes remaining→4 POs in the inbox. Each one takes 25 minutes to enter.Nearly 2 hours before anyone starts any actual work.
03

Corporate Approval Processes Delaying Your Orders

The problem
When a corporate buyer wants to place an order, they rarely have the authority to commit budget on the spot. Their purchase has to go through an internal approval chain - line manager, budget holder, finance team - before it becomes an authorised order. Without PunchOut, that process plays out over email, completely disconnected from your system. You have no visibility of where the approval sits, the buyer has to chase internally, and by the time the PO eventually arrives - often days later - your production schedule or stock availability has shifted.
How Zigaflow fixes it
PunchOut moves the approval process into the buyer's own procurement system, where it's designed to run efficiently. The buyer submits their cart as a requisition, their internal approvers act on it within their standard workflow, and the approved PO is transmitted to Zigaflow the moment it clears. You receive the order faster, with no chasing from either side. Your team can plan production and inventory allocation based on a confirmed order rather than waiting on an email that may or may not arrive this week.
Buyer submits order. Then the waiting starts.✓SubmittedDay 0…Line Manager+2 days…Budget Holder+3 days…Finance+1 day?PO IssuedDay 6+Your Zigaflow — Order pipelineAwaiting POGlobalCorp Ltd — Cotton Tote Bag x500Waiting for purchase order confirmationProduction cannot be scheduled until PO is receivedLast updated: 6 days agoYou have no visibility. You cannot chase it.The approval lives in their system. Not yours.
04

Missing Out on Repeat Corporate Budget Cycles

The problem
Enterprise buyers often have annual or quarterly budgets allocated for specific spend categories - branded merchandise, workwear, equipment. If your business isn't embedded in their procurement system, you're relying on them to remember to contact you each time that budget becomes available. That's a passive strategy that depends on goodwill and the buyer's workload. In practice, a competitor who is PunchOut-enabled will naturally capture repeat business because the path of least resistance is to use an already-approved, already-connected supplier.
How Zigaflow fixes it
Once you're connected as a PunchOut supplier in a buyer's procurement system, you become the default route for every relevant purchase they make. Their team logs in, punches out to your Zigaflow storefront, and the order flows back automatically - the same process every time, with no friction. Over time this creates a predictable, recurring revenue stream from each enterprise account rather than one-off orders that require re-acquisition. You can use Zigaflow's eCommerce catalog tools to keep product data current and well-presented within their system.
GlobalCorp — Q4 Branded Merchandise BudgetTotal budget allocated:£48,000Released to PunchOut-enabled suppliers only · Renews each quarterSupplierAllocatedOrdersAcme Print Co.£18,50023Global Merch Ltd£14,20017Promo Direct£9,80012Your BusinessNot registered as a PunchOut supplier — cannot receive budget allocation—£48,000 released every quarter. You receive none of it.Not because of price or quality. Because you are not in the system.
05

Enterprise Clients Upgrading to Systems You Can't Support

The problem
Large organisations regularly upgrade or consolidate their procurement infrastructure. A long-standing client might move from manual PO emails to SAP Ariba, or a new procurement manager might enforce a policy that all purchases must go through Coupa. If you can't integrate, you're no longer compliant with their supplier requirements - even if the buyer personally wants to continue using you. These transitions are often non-negotiable, and suppliers who can't meet the technical requirement are removed from the approved list regardless of relationship history.
How Zigaflow fixes it
Zigaflow's PunchOut capability supports integration with the main enterprise procurement platforms, so when a client upgrades their system, you can upgrade with them rather than being left behind. When a buyer's organisation migrates to a new platform, you configure the new PunchOut connection within Zigaflow, go through their supplier onboarding process, and you're back on the approved list. That conversation becomes "let us know when you're ready to connect us" rather than "unfortunately we can't meet your new requirements" - a far stronger position to be in with a key account.
From: procurement@globalcorp.comImportant: Supplier System Migration — Action RequiredDear Supplier,GlobalCorp is migrating all procurement to Coupa effective1 September 2025.All suppliers must complete PunchOut onboarding by this date.Suppliers not compliant by the deadline will be removed fromthe approved list and will not receive further purchase orders.YOUR COMPLIANCE STATUS✗ PunchOut capability: Not confirmedAction required before 1 Sep — or account will be closed8 years of trading history with this account.One email ends it — not because of you, but your system.This is already happening across the industry.
06

Managing Two Completely Different Order Processes

The problem
Many businesses that sell to both corporate buyers and standard trade or online customers end up running two separate order processes. Corporate POs arrive by email or via a procurement portal and require different handling - manual entry, different pricing tiers, specific reference numbers, account codes. Standard orders come through the website or phone and follow a normal flow. The result is split attention, inconsistent processing, and a higher risk of errors when team members switch between the two modes, particularly when the business is busy.
How Zigaflow fixes it
Zigaflow consolidates both flows into the same order pipeline. PunchOut orders from enterprise procurement systems and standard orders from your eCommerce storefront or direct entry all arrive in the same place, follow the same workflow, and generate the same downstream documents - works orders, delivery notes, and invoices. Your team doesn't need to think about where an order came from or which process to follow. The source is recorded against the order for reporting, but from a fulfilment perspective, every order is just an order waiting to be actioned.
Monday morning. Two inboxes. Two systems.Corporate PO — ManualPDF arrives by emailPO_GlobalCorp_8821_v3_FINAL.pdfRe-key 14 line items manually~25 minutes per orderVerify prices match account termsManual check requiredCross-reference cost codesPO ref, account ref, cost centreFinally enter into Zigaflow45 mins after the PO arrivedStandard Order — DirectOrder lands in ZigaflowStructured, ready to actionAssign and process2 minutes from receiptThat's it.No extra steps needed.Same business. Different rules for every order type.Split attention, inconsistent process, higher error rate.
07

Catalog and Pricing Mismatches on Corporate Orders

The problem
Corporate buyers often have negotiated pricing arrangements, approved product lists, or specific configurations that differ from your standard catalog. When orders arrive by email or PDF, it's up to your team to manually verify that the pricing and line items match the agreed account terms before processing. That check takes time, and when something doesn't match - a price quoted incorrectly, an unlisted product ordered - it creates a back-and-forth that delays fulfilment and frustrates the buyer, sometimes at a point when they have a deadline to meet.
How Zigaflow fixes it
Zigaflow's PunchOut setup allows you to configure account-specific catalog views and pricing tiers for individual buyers. When a corporate buyer punches into your storefront, they see the products and pricing that apply to their account - not your standard public catalog. That means the order they submit already reflects agreed terms, the PO that arrives matches what you expect, and there's no verification step before you can start work. For items that need a quote first, PunchOut supports non-catalog requests that route through Zigaflow's quoting workflow before a PO is raised.
PO Verification — ENT-PO-8821 — GlobalCorp LtdItemBuyer quotedYour priceStatusBranded Pen Set x200£1.20£1.20✓ OKCotton Tote Bag x500£3.00£3.85✗ GapWorkwear Polo x200£8.50£12.00✗ GapDesk Notepad A5 x100£0.90£0.90✓ OK2 items at wrong price — PO cannot be processedEmail buyer to renegotiate · Delay order · Risk relationshipWithout account pricing, every PO needs a manual check.Two mismatches here. How many more are in the inbox?
How it works

From setup to results in minutes

1

Set up your connection

In Zigaflow, configure your PunchOut settings by entering your procurement platform credentials and defining which catalog view your buyer will see when they punch in. You can set account-specific pricing tiers, restrict the visible product range, and add reference fields required by the buyer's system - such as cost codes or budget references. Once configured, share your PunchOut endpoint details with the buyer's IT or procurement team so they can add you as an approved supplier in their platform.

2

Buyer punches into your store

The buyer opens their procurement system - SAP Ariba, Coupa, Jaggaer, or another supported platform - and selects your business from their approved supplier list. They click through and are authenticated automatically into your Zigaflow storefront without entering a separate password. They arrive on the catalog view configured for their account, ready to browse. The session is active within their procurement environment, so everything they do is tracked against their account for approval purposes.

3

Buyer browses and builds order

The buyer browses your catalog, selects products, configures required options - sizes, colours, branding specifications - and adds items to their cart. The experience is identical to your standard eCommerce storefront from their perspective. For items that need a quote before committing - bespoke products, large quantities, or unlisted items - they can submit a non-catalog request, which routes through Zigaflow's quoting workflow before returning a pricing confirmation they can raise a PO against.

4

Cart punches back for approval

When the buyer is ready, they submit their cart. Rather than completing a purchase, the cart contents are transmitted back to their procurement system as a purchase requisition - a request to buy, not a confirmed order. The requisition routes through their internal approval chain: line manager, budget holder, finance. Zigaflow waits. The approval process runs entirely on the buyer's side, within their normal workflow. You don't need to chase, and neither does the buyer.

5

Approved PO lands in Zigaflow

Once the requisition is approved internally, the buyer's procurement system generates a purchase order and transmits it electronically to Zigaflow. It arrives as a structured order in your pipeline - line items, quantities, pricing, delivery details, and account reference codes all populated automatically. Your team picks it up immediately: raising works orders, checking inventory, generating a delivery note, and sending an invoice when the order is complete. No manual entry required at any stage.

Common questions

Frequently asked

Keep exploring

Features that work with PunchOut

eCommerce

PunchOut works alongside Zigaflow's eCommerce module - buyers from standard online channels and procurement systems both feed into the same order pipeline.

Explore eCommerce →

Purchase Orders

Incoming PunchOut POs follow the same workflow as any purchase order in Zigaflow - no separate process needed for enterprise buyer transactions.

Explore Purchase Orders →

Quotes

For bespoke or configurable items, PunchOut supports non-catalog requests that route through Zigaflow's quoting workflow before returning a confirmed PO.

Explore Quotes →

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