cXML Punchout Integration
SAP Ariba Punchout Catalog for Suppliers
Your customer buys through SAP Ariba and asked you for a punchout catalog. Rinktee gets you connected — a cloud-hosted catalog of your items, integrated with Ariba over cXML, without building or maintaining any infrastructure yourself.
What is a SAP Ariba punchout catalog?
When your customer’s buyers shop in SAP Ariba, they see your company listed in their catalog. Clicking “Buy from Supplier” opens your Rinktee-hosted catalog in a punchout session: they browse your items, see their negotiated pricing, add products to a cart, and check out. The cart contents return to Ariba as a requisition — flowing into their normal approval and purchase order process.
For you as the supplier, that means your products are one click away inside the system your customer already uses for every purchase. No re-keyed orders, no emailed spreadsheets, no stale PDF price lists.
How Rinktee connects to SAP Ariba
Rinktee speaks cXML, the protocol SAP Ariba and the Ariba Network (SAP Business Network) use for punchout. Here’s the flow:
- 1
Your customer’s buyer clicks your catalog link in SAP Ariba. SAP Ariba sends a PunchOutSetupRequest through the Ariba Network to your Rinktee catalog.
- 2
Rinktee authenticates the request using the shared secret configured in your Ariba Network account, and returns the URL of your catalog — branded for that customer, with their pricing and their view of your items.
- 3
The buyer shops your catalog. Search, categories, item details, images, tiered pricing by quantity — everything you have configured in Rinktee.
- 4
Checkout returns the cart to SAP Ariba as a PunchOutOrderMessage. The buyer’s requisition is populated with your items, part numbers, prices, and units of measure — accurately, every time.
- 5
The approved purchase order is issued from SAP Ariba through your customer’s normal channel.
Rinktee handles the cXML endpoints, certificates, uptime, and security. You manage your items.
Level 1 and Level 2 punchout support
Level 1 (store-level): Buyers click through to your Rinktee catalog homepage and search there. Fastest to set up — most supplier–customer connections start here.
Level 2 (item-level): Buyers search inside Ariba itself and see your individual items in their results; clicking an item punches directly into that product page in your catalog. Rinktee generates and exports the punchout index file your customer’s procurement system needs, so item-level search works with no extra effort on your side.
Why suppliers choose Rinktee
Fast to launch
Upload 100,000 items in under three minutes. A new catalog can be punchout-ready the same day your customer asks for it.
Customer-specific views and pricing
Slice one master catalog into per-customer views — show each buyer only their approved categories, items, and negotiated or tiered prices.
Multi-language, multi-currency
Serve buyers in their own language and their own currency, all from a single master catalog.
Custom fields and mapping
Add the extra fields and data mappings your customer’s configuration requires — commodity codes (UNSPSC), units of measure, and any custom fields the integration needs.
No system administration
Backups, updates, certificates, and security are Rinktee’s responsibility. There is nothing for your IT team to host or patch.
Economical
Punchout shouldn’t cost more than the contract it wins you. Plans start at $12.95/month and scale with your catalog size.
Getting connected in three steps
- 1
Create your Rinktee catalog. Sign up, upload your item file, and add images and tiered pricing.
- 2
Configure your Ariba Network account. Enter your Rinktee punchout URL and shared secret in your cXML profile; accept your customer’s trading relationship request.
- 3
Test and go live. Validate the punchout session in your customer’s test environment, then publish. Rinktee support assists at every step.
SAP Ariba punchout — frequently asked questions
My customer asked me for a “punchout catalog” for Ariba. What do they actually need from me?
They need a cXML-enabled catalog site that the Ariba Network can connect to. With Rinktee, you don’t build this — you upload your items to Rinktee, and we provide the punchout URL and handle the cXML messaging.
Do I need my own ecommerce website?
No. Rinktee is a fully hosted catalog. If you have no webstore at all, you can still offer your SAP Ariba customers a complete punchout experience.
Can different customers see different items and prices?
Yes. Views let you present each customer their own slice of your master catalog with their own pricing — without maintaining separate catalogs.
Does Rinktee support Level 2 punchout?
Yes. Rinktee supports both Level 1 (store-level) and Level 2 (item-level) punchout, and generates the punchout index file buyers need to find your individual items inside their procurement system’s search.
How long does setup take?
Uploading your items takes minutes, and your catalog can be ready the same day. End-to-end go-live depends mostly on your customer’s testing and enablement schedule.
What does it cost?
Plans start at $12.95/month and scale with the size of your catalog. See our pricing page for all tiers.
Do I need an Ariba Network account?
Yes. Punchout requests route through your customer’s relationship with you on the Ariba Network (SAP Business Network). Account levels and any associated fees are set by SAP, not Rinktee — check your account type directly with SAP.
What’s the difference between a CIF hosted catalog and a punchout catalog?
A CIF catalog is a static file uploaded into Ariba; your customer sees a snapshot. A punchout catalog is live — buyers shop your actual hosted catalog, so pricing, items, and availability are always current, and you keep control of the content.