{"id":41949,"date":"2025-06-24T10:19:42","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T08:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/?p=41949"},"modified":"2025-11-11T11:54:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T10:54:26","slug":"waarom-steeds-meer-b2b-webshops-kiezen-voor-oci-of-cxml-punchout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/waarom-steeds-meer-b2b-webshops-kiezen-voor-oci-of-cxml-punchout\/","title":{"rendered":"Why more and more B2B websites are choosing OCI or cXML PunchOut"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"41949\" class=\"elementor elementor-41949\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-46702e2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"46702e2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-21da908 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"21da908\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>PunchOut is a common term in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/b2b-e-commerce\/\">B2B e-commerce.<\/a> The technology may sound complex, but it is increasingly a requirement of corporate customers. PunchOut is used to link purchasing systems (procurement software) to web shops, making it easier for buyers to order within their own systems. In this blog, we explain what it is, what variants there are (OCI and cXML), why it is valuable for your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/ecommerce-b2b-webshop\/\">B2B webstore<\/a>, and how to implement it.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><h3><b>What is PunchOut?<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The term <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PunchOut<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> refers to the process by which a buyer navigates directly through his or her own procurement system to a supplier's webshop, selects products there, and sends them back to the procurement system for approval and further processing.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are two main PunchOut variants:<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>OCI PunchOut<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> - the SAP variant, widely used in Europe.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>cXML PunchOut<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> - based on XML and widely used in the US. This is the standard in systems such as Coupa, Oracle and SAP Ariba.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although the <\/span><b>user experience is almost identical<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, these standards differ <\/span><b>technically significant<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Therefore, it is important that your webshop can handle both.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6f3832d elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"6f3832d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oci-punchout-1.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-41961\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oci-punchout-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oci-punchout-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oci-punchout-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oci-punchout-1-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oci-punchout-1-12x12.png 12w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a129de3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a129de3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em>Information flows between the ERP and the web shop.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5e0034d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5e0034d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6b8aa50 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6b8aa50\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3><b>OCI Open Catalog Interface (SAP standard)<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OCI stands for Open Catalog Interface and is a protocol originally developed by SAP. In the Netherlands, it is often referred to as an \"OCI link\". The protocol defines how data on products and shopping baskets are exchanged between the webshop and the purchasing system.<\/span><\/p><p><b>cXML Commerce XML (Ariba standard)<\/b><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cXML is the XML-based counterpart of OCI. It is used by Ariba (now also owned by SAP), Coupa, Oracle and other US enterprise procurement systems, among others. Whereas OCI works with HTTP parameters, cXML uses structured XML messages for communication.<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p><h3><b>How does the PunchOut process work?<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the buyer, the PunchOut process works as follows:<\/span><\/p><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Start from the procurement system<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 click on the supplier.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Automatically logged into the webshop<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 no passwords required.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Put together a shopping basket<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 select products.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Shopping basket is returned to the purchasing system<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 Further approval takes place here.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>After approval, the order is finalised<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, often via EDI or e-mail.<\/span><\/li><\/ol><p><b>Important customer benefit<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: because each order has a reference or order number on it, an invoice with that same reference can often be <\/span><b>are automatically approved<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This significantly speeds up invoice processing, as the purchase has already been approved within the system.<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p><h3><b>Why support PunchOut in your webshop?<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For many B2B customers, PunchOut is the preferred method of placing orders. Especially for larger companies, this is a standard part of their procurement process.<\/span><\/p><h4><b>Well-known procurement systems include:<\/b><\/h4><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Afas<\/b><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Exact (Proquro)<\/b><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Visma (Spend Cloud)<\/b><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Sage<\/b><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Onventis<\/b><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For enterprise organisations, you more often see packages such as <\/span><b>Coupa, Oracle<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>SAP Ariba<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p><h3><b>The benefits for your customer<\/b><\/h3><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>One central environment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: buyers don't need to open or log in to your webshop separately.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Quick order<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: find and add products without additional operations.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Built-in authorisation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: orders automatically follow internal approval flows.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Efficient invoice processing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: thanks to order references, fewer manual checks are needed.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><h3><b><br \/>When is PunchOut interesting?<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PunchOut is particularly relevant for regular customers who regularly order through your B2B webshop, such as installers, wholesale customers or manufacturing companies. In addition, we see that PunchOut is increasingly <\/span><b>a hard requirement<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is in tenders and supplier selections.<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p><h3><b>How do you technically arrange this?<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PunchOut rarely comes standard in your e-commerce software. For <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/platformen\/magento\/\">Magento<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/platformen\/shopware\/\">Shopware<\/a> it is a customised extension that includes these components, among others:<\/span><\/p><h4><b>Technical requirements:<\/b><\/h4><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Unique PunchOut URL<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: this URL is placed in the procurement system. It provides automatic login and contains a so-called callback URL.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Shopping basket feedback<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: via a POST-request to the callback URL, according to SAP specifications (for OCI) or XML schemas (for cXML).<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Order processing (optional)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: you can extend the process with automatic order processing via EDI or e-mail, including order confirmations.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><b>Practical implementation: Abeta Plugin for Magento and Shopware<\/b><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We cooperate for this technique with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/abeta.nl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Abeta<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. They have a specialised plugin that both <\/span><b>OCI as cXML PunchOut<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> supports, from a single solution. That means:<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One plugin for both standards (OCI + cXML).<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communication with both the customer and the technical managers of the procurement system is provided.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flexible support for anomalous data mapping or specific system requirements.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abeta also supervises the customer contact, if required, so that you, the webshop administrator, are relieved when setting up the link.<\/span><\/p><p><b>Want to know more about PunchOut for your B2B webshop?<\/b><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PunchOut makes the difference in B2B e-commerce. Especially if you work with larger customers or want to future-proof your webshop. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/contact\/\">Contact us<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for a no-obligation consultation.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PunchOut is een veelgehoorde term in B2B e-commerce. De techniek klinkt misschien complex, maar is steeds vaker een vereiste van zakelijke klanten. PunchOut wordt gebruikt om inkoopsystemen (procurement software) te koppelen aan webshops, zodat inkopers makkelijker kunnen bestellen binnen hun eigen systemen. In deze blog leggen we uit wat het is, welke varianten er zijn [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":41952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,1,74,67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data","category-nieuws","category-oci-punchout","category-toekomstbestendigheid"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41949"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47475,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41949\/revisions\/47475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}