Coupa Open Buy integration: API, PunchOut and cXML made simple
Connect your B2B product catalogue to Coupa and make your products available to corporate customers right inside their digital purchasing – via cXML PunchOut, the Open Buy API or electronic order transfer.
- Target system
- Coupa
- Methods
- cXML PunchOut, Open Buy API, cXML OrderRequest
- Formats
- cXML, REST / JSON
- Primus solution
- Primus PunchOut, Primus Connect; Open Buy per project
Your customer uses Coupa? We help you connect.
More and more companies rely on digital procurement platforms to standardise and automate their purchasing. For suppliers this means: products have to be available where customers buy.
Coupa offers several integration options for this – from classic cXML PunchOut catalogues to API-based product search through Coupa Open Buy. Which connection is needed depends on your customer’s requirements. Pro3Con helps you find the right technical solution.
- Direct connection: your product catalogues inside your customers’ procurement environment.
- Fewer manual processes: standardised interfaces reduce the effort of providing catalogues.
- Current product data: structured item information as the basis for the integration.
- Customer-specific requirements: different ranges, prices and interface specifications are taken into account.
- Future-proof architecture: existing PunchOut technology combined with new API-based procurement requirements.
Three routes into Coupa
Product search, catalogue and ordering are separate integration steps in Coupa. We work out which of them your customer actually requires.
cXML PunchOut
The buyer leaves Coupa for your catalogue or webshop and brings the cart back via cXML. In production today with Primus PunchOut and Primus Connect.
Coupa Open Buy API
Coupa queries your products through a REST interface directly in its search. We assess a connection together, based on your product data and systems.
Electronic orders
Orders arrive as cXML OrderRequest and are prepared for your ERP or inventory system; advance shipping notices (ASN) can be added if required.
What is Coupa Open Buy?
Coupa Open Buy enables direct search for supplier products within the Coupa procurement platform.
In a classic PunchOut the buyer leaves Coupa for the supplier’s online shop, assembles the cart there and transfers it back. Coupa Open Buy takes a different approach: the buyer searches directly within Coupa. Connected supplier interfaces return matching products, which are shown in the search results.
Products from different suppliers can thus appear in one shared search environment. For suppliers this is an opportunity to make their items visible as early as the search phase of digital purchasing.
Which product information is transferred?
The Coupa Open Buy API provides for the information listed here, among other things. A high-quality, up-to-date product data basis is therefore an important prerequisite for a successful Open Buy integration.
That is exactly the data basis Primus Catalog creates: validated item master data with classification, units of measure and prices, from which catalogues and PunchOut shops are already generated today.
- Item number and product name
- Product images and descriptions
- Prices and currencies
- Units of measure
- Manufacturer information
- UNSPSC classifications
- Minimum order quantities and further order parameters
Coupa Open Buy API: the technical interface
The Coupa Open Buy API is REST-based and enables the structured exchange of product information between Coupa and the supplier system. The documented interface covers four core functions; the electronic transfer of an order is a separate matter.
Authentication
The systems authenticate before protected product information can be requested.
Search
Coupa sends a search request to the supplier interface, which returns matching item information.
Detail
Additional information on a specific product is retrieved when needed.
Checkout
The interface provides the item data Coupa needs to process the selected product further in its purchasing flow.
Coupa PunchOut or Coupa Open Buy: which solution do you need?
Coupa supports different methods for integrating supplier catalogues. The two can complement each other.
| Function | cXML PunchOut | Open Buy API |
|---|---|---|
| Product search | In the supplier shop | Directly in Coupa |
| Interface format | cXML | REST / JSON |
| Product information | Displayed in the shop | Retrieved via API |
| Cart integration | cXML cart return | Provision of checkout item data |
| Typical use | Buying in the supplier catalogue | Central product search |
| Status at Pro3Con | In production with Primus PunchOut and Primus Connect | Integration service, scope assessed per project |
A supplier may already offer a working cXML PunchOut and additionally want to meet a customer’s Coupa Open Buy requirements. In that case we check which existing product data and interfaces can be reused and which additional API functions are needed.
Coupa cXML and EDI: transferring orders electronically
Alongside product search, electronic order transfer plays a central role in B2B purchasing. Coupa supports cXML-based order messages for this, among others. A cXML OrderRequest transfers orders electronically to the supplier. A suitable order interface receives these messages and prepares them for processing in the ERP or inventory system. Depending on the customer, further documents such as advance shipping notices (ASN) may be added.
Is Coupa Open Buy an EDI interface? Not in the classic sense. Open Buy primarily serves the API-based exchange of product information. EDI, by contrast, stands for the structured electronic exchange of business documents. With Coupa, cXML can be used for electronic order transfer and embedded in a wider EDI or B2B integration architecture.
For suppliers it is therefore important to look at the individual process steps separately: search product → select item → create order → transfer order → process order. Pro3Con helps you classify the different integration requirements and design a suitable technical architecture.
Primus PunchOut: your solution for the Coupa catalogue connection
With Primus PunchOut, Pro3Con provides a cloud-based software solution for integrating electronic supplier catalogues. It supports the cXML, OCI 4.0 and OCI 5.0 standards and provides PunchOut interfaces for various e-procurement platforms. Classic cXML PunchOut connections to Coupa are covered as well.
Already running a webshop? Then Primus Connect connects your shop to Coupa as the PunchOut front end, without a second catalogue.
- cXML PunchOut for Coupa from your item list, no programming
- Plus OCI 4.0 and OCI 5.0 for SAP-based customer systems
- Customer-specific prices and ranges per Coupa customer
- Your existing shop as the front end with Primus Connect
Extending an existing PunchOut integration with Open Buy?
If your customer additionally requires an Open Buy connection, we assess the technical prerequisites together. Based on this analysis we define the scope and effort of an additional Open Buy API connection.
Want to know which technical changes your Coupa Open Buy connection requires?
- Availability and quality of product data
- Existing ERP, PIM and shop systems
- API authentication requirements
- Search function and response times
- Product data mapping and customer-specific conditions
- Checkout and order integration requirements
How we support your Coupa connection
1Gather requirements
We analyse which Coupa integration your customer needs and which technical requirements have to be met.
2Review existing systems
We look at your existing product data sources, online shops, ERP systems and interfaces.
3Create the integration concept
We define which standards and API functions are needed and how they fit into your system architecture.
4Agree the implementation
We clarify implementation steps, the necessary tests and the prerequisites for go-live.
They work with Primus
Manufacturers and distributors delivering their product data to their customers’ procurement systems with Primus.
Frequently asked questions about Coupa integration
Nothing here that matches? Write to us – you will get a technical answer, not a template.
Can I connect my existing online shop to Coupa?
Yes. Existing B2B online shops can generally be connected to Coupa via suitable PunchOut or API interfaces. For cXML PunchOut, Primus Connect takes care of this. The specific implementation depends on your shop system and your customer’s requirements.
Does Primus PunchOut support Coupa?
Yes. Primus PunchOut supports classic cXML PunchOut integrations for procurement platforms such as Coupa. An additional Open Buy API integration has to be assessed separately.
Do I need a REST API for Coupa Open Buy?
A direct Open Buy API integration requires a suitable API that meets Coupa’s documented requirements: authentication, product search, product details and checkout item data.
Is Coupa Open Buy compatible with cXML?
Coupa can support both Open Buy search integrations and classic cXML PunchOut. They are different technical integration routes that can complement each other.
Can Coupa transfer orders to my ERP automatically?
Coupa supports cXML OrderRequest for electronic order transfer, among others. Automatic processing in the ERP requires a matching order integration on the supplier side.
Can we keep using our existing PunchOut solution?
That depends on the existing architecture and your customer’s requirements. An additional Open Buy integration may be able to build on existing product data and system components.
How many errors does your catalogue have?
Upload a BMEcat file. The validator checks it against the DTD and our quality rules and shows every error with its location. Free, no sign-up.