Understanding Catalogs

To search the catalog in Ariba, select a Catalog tab and use the search bar to look up items based on the item name, supplier or other keywords.

You can use quotation marks around your keyword to only return results with that exact phrase searches default to use the and operator, which means if you search for USB cable it will run the search as USB AND Cable.

Search Functionality

To search for an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search terms. For example, if you search for "USB cable" the search will only return results with the exact phrase "USB cable."

Keyword searches default to AND searches. That means that all terms must match an item for that item to be returned. For example, if you search for USB cable the search will run as USB AND Cable. You can also include the OR keyword; cable or adapter will return results with "adapter" in addition to results with "cable". To exclude words from a search, use a leading dash character: cable -USB will return results matching "cable" without "USB".

The catalog search supports stemming, which allows users to enter a word like battery and get results with alternative suffixes like batteries.

Trailing wildcards are added automatically to searches, which means users can search for a partial word only and find results containing those letters.

Boolean logic can be used to search for two options using the OR operator.

Boolean logic can also be used to exclude a keyword from a search using a leading dash character directly before the keyword you wish to exclude.

The catalog search also supports fuzzy spelling, so even if you spell something slightly incorrectly, it will still return results spelled similar to the search.

Stem Search

Stemming allows users to search for either "battery" or "batteries" and find results for both.

Partial Word or Wildcard Search

Trailing wildcard searching is automatic (for example, automatically adding "s" or "ing" to the term) for keyword searches. There is no need to search for "polyethylene." A search for "poly" will return results which start with those letters.

Booleans

You can use "or" to search for two options, for example: "paper or plastic bags." To exclude search options, use a dash: "bags –plastic" will return bags without "plastic."

Fuzzy spelling

We are not all spelling bee champions. SAP Ariba will attempt to return results that sound like your search, even if the spelling isn’t perfect. "Moniter" returns monitors.

The order in which items are displayed in the search results is determined by the items relevance with higher ranking items appearing at the top of the results.

Relevance of items is updated once a catalog is re indexed and gets determined by a number of factors such as how close it matches the search terms. It's positioned in the catalog file. It's ranked in the catalog file and whether or not the item is from a preferred supply.

Relevance determines the order in which items appear after a search. Higher ranked items display at the top of the search results list. Relevance updates when the catalog is reindexed and is determined by:

1. How closely the words in the catalog match the search terms. An exact match receives high relevance. Matching because of wildcarding receives medium relevance. Matching because of Soundex (fuzzy spelling) receives lower relevance.
2. The greater the number of words that match in an OR search, the higher the relevance.
3. The catalog administrator or supplier can specify a relevance for each catalog item by using a value between 0 and 1000, with 0 being the most relevant. This type of relevance can rank items only within a supplier catalog, not among all suppliers.
4. Items from preferred suppliers appear before items from other suppliers. Popularity of the item among all users is considered. This is a function of how often the item is ordered and added to favorites by users.
5. The line number in the catalog file in which the items appear. Items that appear near the beginning of the file have higher relevance than those that appear later in the file.

• Relevance determines the display order
• Higher ranked items display first
  • Close match
  • Relevance factor
• Catalog re-indexing updates the relevance

Search results can be further filtered using the refined results pane, which allows you to narrow down the results by keywords, suppliers, or parametric types. The search bar and the refined results pane allows you to search within your search using additional terms.

Refining Results

If initial searching returned too many items, refine the search, which adds search filtering to a returned search set.

Refining Results Pane

Refine search results by using the Refine your results pane on the left side of the screen. You can select applicable keywords, suppliers, or even refine using parametric data. In the example above, the user searched for "computer."

Filtering

When you select fields from the provided lists, they are used as a filter. The search field displays the filtered fields next to "Your Search Path." If you choose a supplier from a drop-down, the supplier field becomes a filter for the search. If you lock a second field, such as manufacturer, then subsequent search choices will be filtered by both the chosen supplier and manufacturer.

• Accessible on left side of page
• Selections in effect until changed
• Custom catalog fields are selectable through this menu
• Provides guidance for the search process
• Refinement counts help to provide "sense of what is in catalog"
• Narrows a search result set
• Supports parametric types

Search results can be sorted to change the order in which the items are displayed. Sorting can be based on relevance price, bestselling or alphabetically.

You can customize search results by modifying the sort order and the level of information that is displayed. These settings will remain in effect until you change them.

Parametric searching in SAP Ariba allows for more specific search criteria.

Partial items are items that make use of this parametric data and require users to choose from the various options called parametric types before the items can be added to a requisition.

For example, before adding a turtleneck shirt to your cart, you will need to choose the size and the color of the shirt. These parametric types, like the size and color of the shirt can also be used as additional search filters and the refined results page.

Catalog items can be added easily to favorites folders so that users can quickly access them for future purchases. Favorite items are searchable and catalog managers can make them available to all users or only to certain users or groups.

Favorites

Favorites provide a fast way for users to find products they order frequently. Users create their own Favorites and select as many items as they like. Catalog items that have been assigned to a favorite group are marked with a star when displayed in the catalog.

Users can search for favorite items along with other items in the catalog.

• Favorite items can be grouped
• Favorite items are searchable
• Catalog Managers can make Public favorites visible to all users or users with a specified group assignment

Punchout catalogs are hosted by suppliers remotely and appear in the catalog as a buy from supplier button. Clicking the buy from supplier Button will take you to the supplier’s website where you can shop much like you would any ecommerce site.

Once you add items to the cart on the punchout side and check out you will be returned to SAP Ariba and the items from the punchout site will be added to your requisition. If you need to change the quantity or details of the punchout items in your requisition, you will need to return to the punchout shopping session.

A quick way to do this is to click the punchout item name in the line items of your acquisition, or you can search for it again in the catalog and click the Buy from supplier button.

Level one punchout catalogs are at the supplier level, which is displayed as the supplier’s name. The Buy from supplier Button takes you to the suppliers Punchout homepage.

Level two punchout catalogs can be at the category level, which takes you to a category specific punch out page.

Level two punchouts can also be at the item level, which is displayed and acts in the catalog similar to a Standard catalog item would with full item details available.

A Punchout catalog is a remote catalog hosted by the supplier. The item displayed is presented as a link to the supplier website where the catalog content resides. The user selects the link and the SAP Ariba displays the supplier’s website. The user shops the website, selects (and even configures) desired items, then checks out. The contents of the website’s shopping cart is returned to the user’s requisition in the SAP Ariba system.

A Punchout session moves a fully configured catalog item to the user’s local requisition. The supplier does not take any action other than offer a reservation for the chosen item or service. The supplier does not start fulfillment until an approved purchase order has been received.

Level 1 Punchout suppliers have one Punchout link which displays a store-level view of the catalog. Level 2 Punchout suppliers have multiple Punchout links that display an aisle-level, shelf-level, or item-level view of the catalog.

• Punchout allows users to shop for items directly on the supplier’s punchout website
• A punchout session adds items to the shopping cart
• The punchout items behave the same way as catalog items once they have returned to SAP Ariba with some exceptions
  • For example, to change the quantity or other item information, you must return to the punchout site
  • You must also return to the punchout site to delete some (but not all) of the items
• A supplier can have one link or multiple links to the punchout catalog

To shop, punchout catalogs, search the catalog and SAP Ariba for items you'd like to purchase. Then click the buy from supplier button on a punchout item.

The Ariba network will authenticate a session with the suppliers punchout site and at any time you can end the punchout shopping session by using a link at the top right of the page to return to SAP Ariba.

On the suppliers punchout site, add one or more items to the shopping cart, then check out. The punch out shopping cart. Items will be returned to the SAP Ariba shopping cart where users can complete and submit the requisition.

The Punchout process involves the buyer, the supplier, and Ariba Network. Punchout messages are routed through Ariba Network for validation and authentication.

1. The user selects a Punchout item in the SAP Ariba catalog. This selection sends a request to Ariba Network to establish a connection with the remote catalog.
2. Ariba Network authenticates the buying organization and forwards the request to the supplier’s Punchout site.
3. The supplier sends back a URL of a webpage on the supplier’s Punchout site designed specifically for the buyer. The SAP Ariba system redirects the user to this URL. The remote shopping site appears in the user’s window and the user begins shopping.
4. After shopping, the user clicks the site’s Check Out button, which moves the contents of the shopping cart from the supplier site back to SAP Ariba.

Spot Buy capability can be enabled to facilitate purchases for items that might not be sourced in current supplier or internal catalogs.

If a catalog search returns no results in the current catalogs, the Spot Buy tab will be displayed with results from Spot Buy suppliers.

The Spot Buy Capability allows you to find and buy non-sourced goods: those goods that have not been previously put under contract and likely never will be. You may sometimes need to buy items that are not currently available from existing suppliers with which your organization has a relationship or items that exist in a preferred supplier’s inventory but that have not been sourced. For example, your preferred office supplies vendor may carry the printer ink your employee needs for their home office, but your Procurement team may not have specifically sourced the ink. In this situation, you could create a non-catalog item when creating a requisition. The non-catalog item would require details of the item you want to buy and would be sent to a purchasing agent, who would source and order the item.

• The Spot Buy Capability allows users to purchase non-sourced items
• Users search the catalog for the item they wish to buy
  • If the company has enabled catalogs, the Company catalog displays content from sourced suppliers
  • The Spot Buy Catalog tab provides a list of Ariba Network Suppliers that have been enabled for Spot Buy
  • If the item is not available in the company catalog, a carousel is displayed at the bottom of this tab showing products available through Spot Buy
• Spot Buy purchases may be restricted or require additional approval
• Returns are allowed on all items

Above is an example of a search that turned up no items in the Company Catalog, but many items in the Spot Buy catalog. In this example Spot Buy is shown by default, if there were items in the Company Catalog those items would show on the screen with the alternate tab for Spot Buy items available.

Spot Buy catalog supports the same features as any other catalog search.