# What is a punchout catalog?

> A punchout catalog lets a buyer browse a supplier's own website from inside their procurement system and return the cart for approval. With an example.

Updated 2026-11-06. Source: https://atta.sh/glossary/punchout-catalog

A punchout catalog connects a procurement system to a supplier's website. The buyer clicks through to the supplier's store, fills a cart there, and the cart returns to the buyer's system as a requisition for approval, with the supplier's current prices.

## Example

An engineer at Cobalt Labs opens the procurement system and clicks "Lab Supply Co." She lands on the supplier's site, adds 6 boxes of nitrile gloves at $14 and a 2 L beaker at $22, and presses a transfer button. The cart comes back as a requisition for $106 and goes to her manager. After approval the system issues the PO to the supplier.

The supplier keeps the prices and stock current. The buyer's system never holds a stale copy of the catalog.

## In Atta

Atta doesn't use punchout. The agent searches the stores a workspace has connected, such as Shopify stores and stores that speak the Universal Commerce Protocol, and reads open-web pages read-only. It returns options with prices, and a purchase goes through the workspace's approval rules before checkout.

For a store that has no cart interface we can use, the agent hands back product links or a cart link the shopper opens themselves. The one cart Atta writes from its servers is a Universal Commerce Protocol store's anonymous cart. Supplier catalogs with price, minimum and lead time can also be entered for suppliers you buy from regularly.

## Why companies use it

Punchout keeps prices current and puts contracted pricing in front of the buyer. It needs the supplier to support cXML or OCI and a procurement system to receive the cart, which is why it usually belongs to larger buyers with fewer, bigger suppliers.

## Questions

### What does punchout use under the hood?

Usually cXML or OCI, which carry the cart from the supplier's site back to the buyer's system.