ERP PunchOut catalog integration — cXML & OCI
Connect SAP Ariba, Coupa, Oracle or SAP ERP directly to the Lapasar marketplace. Your buyers requisition inside the system they already use; carts, approvals and purchase orders stay in your workflow — with a live catalogue behind them.
What is PunchOut catalog integration? — short answer
PunchOut catalog integration connects a supplier’s live online catalogue to a buyer’s ERP or eProcurement system. A requisitioner clicks out from the ERP into the supplier’s marketplace, shops at their organisation’s contract pricing, and the cart returns to the ERP as a requisition for normal approval. Two standards make this work: cXML (used by SAP Ariba, Coupa, Oracle Fusion, GEP SMART and similar platforms) and OCI (SAP’s Open Catalog Interface, used by SAP ERP and SAP SRM). Lapasar supports both, giving Malaysian enterprises marketplace breadth inside the procurement workflow they already run.
Why enterprises stopped uploading catalogue files
For years, connecting a supplier to an ERP meant static catalogue files — spreadsheets of items and prices uploaded into the procurement system and refreshed quarterly, if anyone remembered. Prices drifted out of date, new items were invisible for months, and anything not in the file became a free-text requisition outside every control.
PunchOut replaced that model. Instead of copying the catalogue into the ERP, the ERP opens an authenticated session into the supplier’s live store. The buyer shops real stock at real contract pricing, and the cart returns to the ERP as structured requisition lines. The catalogue is never stale, because it is never copied.
For a marketplace like Lapasar — with a long-tail catalogue that changes daily and organisation-specific contract pricing — punchout is the only connection model that keeps pace. It is also the model your requisitioners will actually adopt, because it lives inside the tool they already use.
The long tail is the punchout use-case
In a typical enterprise, low-value, high-frequency purchases are only 20–30% of spend — but 60–80% of all transactions. That is the spend punchout brings under control.
Long-tail purchases generate most of procurement’s workload while carrying a minority of its value — too fragmented for sourcing projects, too frequent to ignore. A punchout marketplace channels all of it through one governed connection.
The punchout loop at a glance
- Start in your ERPSAP Ariba, Coupa, Oracle or SAP ERP
- Punch out to LapasarAuthenticated session, your contract pricing
- Cart returns as a requisitionStructured lines — nothing rekeyed
- Your approvals & POExisting controls apply unchanged
- Fulfilled by LapasarOwn warehouses and delivery fleet
How a PunchOut session works, step by step
Whether the connection runs on cXML or OCI, every punchout session follows the same five movements — and your buyers only ever see steps one, three and five.
- 1In your ERP
The buyer clicks the supplier catalogue inside the ERP
A requisitioner working in SAP Ariba, Coupa, Oracle or SAP ERP selects the Lapasar catalogue from their normal requisition screen. Nothing new to install, no separate login to remember.
- 2Both systems
The ERP opens a PunchOut session
Behind the scenes the procurement system authenticates with the supplier. In cXML this is a PunchOutSetupRequest posted to the supplier's endpoint; in OCI the ERP calls the supplier's hook URL with session credentials.
- 3On Lapasar
The buyer shops the live catalogue
The requisitioner lands in the Lapasar marketplace — live stock, their organisation's contract pricing, and only the catalogue views their company has approved. It feels like normal online shopping.
- 4Both systems
The cart returns to the ERP — no rekeying
On checkout, the cart is transferred back into the procurement system as requisition lines: cXML posts a PunchOutOrderMessage, OCI returns structured item fields. Every line arrives priced and coded.
- 5In your ERP
Approvals and the PO stay in your system
The requisition routes through your existing approval chain, budget checks and controls. Once approved, the purchase order is transmitted to Lapasar for fulfilment from our own warehouses and fleet.
cXML vs OCI: which standard does your ERP speak?
Two standards, one outcome. cXML dominates cloud procurement suites; OCI is native to SAP ERP environments. You don’t choose — your procurement platform does, and Lapasar connects over both.
| Aspect | cXML PunchOut | OCI (Open Catalog Interface) |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An XML-based B2B protocol originally developed by Ariba, now the de-facto standard for PunchOut across cloud procurement platforms. | SAP's Open Catalog Interface — a lightweight HTML/HTTP standard built for connecting external catalogues to SAP ERP and SAP SRM. |
| Typical platforms | SAP Ariba, Coupa, Oracle Fusion Procurement, GEP SMART, Jaggaer, Ivalua and most modern source-to-pay suites. | SAP ERP (ECC), SAP SRM and SAP S/4HANA environments using classic self-service procurement. |
| How a session starts | The buyer's system posts a PunchOutSetupRequest document to the supplier's endpoint; the supplier validates credentials and replies with a start-page URL. | The ERP calls the supplier's hook URL, passing login credentials and a return address as URL or form parameters. |
| How the cart returns | The supplier posts a PunchOutOrderMessage back to the buyer's BrowserFormPost address — items, quantities, prices and classification codes as structured XML. | Cart contents return to the ERP as structured name-value item fields (description, quantity, price, unit, vendor material number). |
| Catalogue depth | Supports Level 1 (store-level) and Level 2 (item-level) PunchOut, so items can surface directly in the buyer's search results. | Store-level punchout as standard; later OCI versions add background search so the ERP can query the catalogue directly. |
| How the PO is sent | The approved purchase order is transmitted electronically as a cXML OrderRequest to the supplier's order endpoint. | The PO is issued from SAP and transmitted over the channel agreed with the supplier (EDI, cXML, email or portal). |
Level 1 vs Level 2 PunchOut
Level 1 — store-level
The buyer punches out to the supplier’s storefront and searches there. It is the fastest to deploy and works for every catalogue size — the requisitioner simply shops the live marketplace and checks out back into the ERP.
Level 2 — item-level
Item index data is shared with the procurement platform, so supplier products appear directly in the buyer’s own search results and deep-link straight to the product page. Fewer clicks, better price visibility, higher catalogue usage — the configuration enterprises typically graduate to.
Procurement platforms Lapasar connects to
One marketplace, connected over the standard your system already speaks.
- cXML
;}.cls-1,.cls-2{fill-rule:evenodd;}.cls-2{fill:%23fff;}%3c/style%3e%3clinearGradient%20id='linear-gradient'%20x1='206.19'%20y1='0'%20x2='206.19'%20y2='204'%20gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3e%3cstop%20offset='0'%20stop-color='%2300b1eb'%3e%3c/stop%3e%3cstop%20offset='.212'%20stop-color='%23009ad9'%3e%3c/stop%3e%3cstop%20offset='.519'%20stop-color='%23007fc4'%3e%3c/stop%3e%3cstop%20offset='.792'%20stop-color='%23006eb8'%3e%3c/stop%3e%3cstop%20offset='1'%20stop-color='%230069b4'%3e%3c/stop%3e%3c/linearGradient%3e%3c/defs%3e%3cpolyline%20class='cls-1'%20points='0%20204%20208.413%20204%20412.38%200%200%200%200%20204'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-2'%20d='m244.727,38.359l-40.593-.025v96.518l-35.46-96.518h-35.16l-30.277,80.716c-3.224-20.352-24.277-27.38-40.84-32.649-10.937-3.512-22.541-8.678-22.434-14.387.091-4.687,6.225-9.04,18.377-8.385,8.17.433,15.373,1.092,29.71,8.006l14.102-24.557c-13.088-6.658-31.169-10.867-45.985-10.883h-.086c-17.277,0-31.677,5.598-40.602,14.824-6.221,6.443-9.572,14.626-9.712,23.679-.227,12.454,4.341,21.292,13.938,28.338,8.104,5.944,18.468,9.794,27.603,12.626,11.27,3.492,20.467,6.526,20.36,13.002-.083,2.355-.977,4.552-2.671,6.337-2.807,2.897-7.124,3.986-13.084,4.098-11.497.243-20.026-1.559-33.61-9.585l-12.536,24.903c13.546,7.705,29.586,12.223,45.952,12.223l2.106-.024c14.247-.256,25.745-4.316,34.929-11.712.527-.416,1.001-.845,1.488-1.277l-4.073,10.874h36.875l6.189-18.822c6.477,2.214,13.847,3.437,21.676,3.437,7.618,0,14.795-1.17,21.156-3.252l5.965,18.637h60.137v-38.969h13.113c31.706,0,50.456-16.147,50.456-43.202,0-30.139-18.219-43.969-57.011-43.969Zm-93.816,82.587c-4.737,0-9.177-.828-13.006-2.275l12.866-40.593h.244l12.643,40.708c-3.801,1.349-8.138,2.16-12.746,2.16Zm96.199-23.324h-8.941v-32.711h8.941c11.927,0,21.437,3.961,21.437,16.139,0,12.602-9.51,16.572-21.437,16.572'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)
SAP Ariba
Level 1 and Level 2 PunchOut
- cXML
Coupa
Buyer-specific catalogue views
- cXML
'%20style='fill:%23C74634'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)
Oracle Fusion
Self Service Procurement punchout
- cXML
GEP SMART
Unified source-to-pay suite
- OCI
SAP ERP / SRM
Open Catalog Interface integration
- cXML
Jaggaer, Ivalua & more
Other cXML-compatible suites
All product names, logos and brands are property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only.
Why enterprises integrate their ERP with a punchout marketplace
Adoption without training
Requisitioners never leave the procurement system they already know, so there is no new tool to learn — the single biggest reason punchout programmes outperform standalone portals.
Zero rekeying, fewer errors
Carts flow back as structured requisition lines. No copying part numbers between screens, no mistyped prices, no maverick free-text requisitions.
One live source of catalogue truth
Static catalogue files go stale the day they are uploaded. A punchout catalogue is always live — current stock, current contract pricing, no quarterly file maintenance.
Governance stays intact
Approval chains, budget checks, three-way matching and audit trails all continue to run inside your ERP. Punchout adds breadth of supply, not a parallel process.
Contract pricing, enforced
Buyers see their organisation's negotiated pricing and approved catalogue views — not a public price list. Every requisition is on-contract by construction.
Long-tail spend under control
The hardest spend to govern is the fragmented long tail. Routing it through a punchout marketplace brings thousands of low-value purchases into one controlled channel.
Integrating with Lapasar: how a project runs
The supplier side of the connection is our job. Your ERP or platform team’s involvement is concentrated in credential exchange and testing — a standard connection is measured in weeks, not months.
- 01
Scope the connection
We confirm your procurement platform (SAP Ariba, Coupa, Oracle, SAP ERP/SRM or another cXML system), the standard to use, and the catalogue views and contract pricing your organisation needs.
- 02
Exchange credentials & endpoints
Identities, shared secrets and endpoint URLs are exchanged between your ERP team and Lapasar's integration team — the technical handshake behind every punchout session.
- 03
Test in your staging environment
We run end-to-end tests from your test ERP: session setup, shopping, cart return and order transmission, until every field maps cleanly into your requisition format.
- 04
Go live and expand
The catalogue is enabled for your buyers in production. From there, adding categories, sites or entities is configuration — not a new project.
PunchOut integration: common questions
What is a PunchOut catalog?
A PunchOut catalog is a supplier's online catalogue that buyers access from inside their own ERP or eProcurement system. The buyer clicks out ('punches out') to the supplier's site, shops at their contract pricing, and the cart returns to the ERP as a requisition for normal approval — no separate login, no rekeying.
What is the difference between cXML and OCI?
cXML and OCI are the two standards used to run punchout sessions. cXML is an XML-based protocol used by cloud procurement platforms such as SAP Ariba, Coupa, Oracle Fusion and GEP SMART. OCI (Open Catalog Interface) is SAP's simpler HTTP-based standard used by SAP ERP and SAP SRM. They achieve the same outcome — the right choice depends on which system your organisation runs.
What is the difference between Level 1 and Level 2 PunchOut?
Level 1 PunchOut takes the buyer to the supplier's storefront, where they search and shop. Level 2 PunchOut goes further: item-level index data is shared with the procurement system, so products appear directly in the buyer's own search results and deep-link straight to the product page — fewer clicks and better price visibility for requisitioners.
Which procurement platforms does Lapasar integrate with?
Lapasar supports punchout catalogue integration with SAP Ariba, Coupa, Oracle Fusion, GEP SMART and other cXML-compatible platforms, plus OCI-based integration for SAP ERP and SAP SRM environments.
How long does a punchout integration take?
Once credentials and endpoints are exchanged, a standard punchout connection is typically measured in weeks, not months. The main variable is the availability of your ERP or platform administrators for testing — the supplier-side configuration is handled by Lapasar's integration team.
Does punchout change our approval workflow?
No. The cart returns to your ERP as a requisition, where your existing approval chains, budget controls and audit trails apply unchanged. Punchout adds catalogue breadth without creating a parallel purchasing process.
Can we keep our negotiated contract pricing in a punchout catalogue?
Yes. Punchout sessions are authenticated per organisation, so your buyers see your negotiated pricing and only the catalogue views your company has approved — not a public price list.
Connect your ERP to Malaysia’s largest B2B marketplace
Tell us which system you run — SAP Ariba, Coupa, Oracle, SAP ERP or another cXML-compatible platform — and our integration team will scope the punchout connection, catalogue views and contract pricing for your organisation.
- cXML and OCI both supported
- Supplier-side configuration handled by Lapasar
- Existing approvals, budgets and audit trails unchanged
- Fulfilment from Lapasar's own warehouses and fleet