Hosted catalog: what it is and how it differs from punchout
A hosted catalog is a static file of a supplier's products and prices that is uploaded into a buyer's procurement system, where staff search and order from it without visiting the supplier's website.
In short
A hosted catalog is a static product and price file loaded into a buyer's procurement system, so it is quick to set up but only as current as its last upload. If your prices, stock or options change often, plan a move to punchout.
A hosted catalog is a static file of a supplier's products and prices, usually CSV, XML or CIF, that is loaded into the buyer's procurement system so staff can search and order from it there. A punchout catalog works differently: the buyer clicks through to the supplier's own online store, sees live prices and stock, and sends the finished basket back to their system. The hosted catalog is simpler to set up, but it is only as current as its last upload.
How a hosted catalog works
The supplier exports a product list with part numbers, descriptions, units and the prices agreed with that buyer. The buyer's procurement team, or the supplier through a supplier portal, loads the file into the eProcurement platform. Staff then search the catalog like any internal list, add items to a requisition and raise a purchase order. No connection to the supplier's website is needed, which is why a small supplier can often be live in days.
The catalog lives inside the buyer's system and looks the way the buyer's system looks. The supplier controls the content but not the shopping experience.
Why hosted catalogs go stale
A hosted catalog is a snapshot. When a price rises, a product is discontinued or stock runs out, the file does not change until someone uploads a new one. Buyers can then order items at an outdated price or an unavailable product, which leads to rejected orders, invoice disputes and manual corrections on both sides.
Search is also limited. The buyer's platform decides how results are ranked, so buyers sometimes leave to check details on the supplier's website.
Where hosted works best
A hosted catalog suits a small, stable range with fixed contract prices, such as consumables or a short list of standard items that change once or twice a year.
Hosted catalog versus punchout
With punchout, prices, stock levels and product details come from the supplier's store at the moment of ordering, and pricing can be specific to each buyer. Configurable products also work, because the buyer builds the item in the supplier's own configurator, for example choosing sizes, colors or a decoration method. A static file cannot hold those choices.
| | Hosted catalog | Punchout catalog | |---|---|---| | Data source | Static file in the buyer's system | Supplier's live store | | Prices and stock | Only as fresh as the last upload | Live, buyer-specific | | Configurable products | Poor fit | Supported | | Setup effort | Low | Higher: needs a web store and integration | | Maintenance | Manual re-uploads | Maintained through the store |
When suppliers outgrow a hosted catalog
Suppliers usually move on when prices change often, stock varies, the range is large, or products are made to order. At that point re-uploading files for every buyer becomes a task of its own. A supplier running a punchout connection can serve the same live store to every buyer's system, and a customer pricing API keeps each buyer's negotiated prices accurate. Where a customer wants a branded ordering site for its own staff, company stores cover that need. Promotional merchandise suppliers, covered under promotional merchandise, are a clear example: every order involves a logo, a decoration method and quantity-based pricing that a flat file cannot express.
Start with the buyer
Ask each buyer which catalog types their procurement system supports before building anything. Many platforms accept both, and the answer decides your setup.