Storefront Types

overview shi one supports six distinct storefront types , each designed around a specific customer use case every storefront shares a common set of core capabilities — branding, access control, catalog management, approval workflows, and more — but is tailored with type specific features and configurations to match the purchasing scenario it serves these existing shi com capabilities are still being migrated into shi one storefronts these capabilities are available today, through customization requests to your shi account team overtime we will introduce self service management capabilities for storefronts quick reference choosing the right storefront if your need is… use this storefront type standard it procurement with approval workflows procurement portal employee benefit / personal purchase program employee purchase portal new hire provisioning & hardware refresh employee onboarding / refresh location specific, standardized ordering site store multi region global procurement global procurement portal integration with your existing erp/procurement system punchout storefront types procurement portal the procurement portal is the most common storefront type it serves as the central hub for an organization's it procurement team to browse catalogs, submit purchase requests, route orders through approval workflows, and track fulfillment it is designed for companies that want a controlled, policy driven procurement process with full visibility and reporting type specific features catalog management — full control over which manufacturers, product lines, and individual products are visible to buyers approval workflows — configurable multi level approval routing based on dollar thresholds, departments, or user roles budget controls — set and enforce spending limits per user, department, or cost center customized checkout — mandatory or optional fields (po number, department code, accounting code, etc ) tailored to the organization's requirements standards & bundles — pre approved product standards organized into folders with custom categories, including discontinued product identification and approved replacements order history & reporting — self service access to order tracking (open, delivered, invoiced, rma), serial numbers, shipment details, and full ad hoc reporting key personas it procurement managers — define catalogs, set approval rules, manage budgets buyers / requesters — browse products, submit orders, track shipments approvers — review and approve/reject purchase requests based on workflow rules administrators — manage user access, storefront settings, and reporting ideal for organizations with structured it purchasing processes, approval hierarchies, and a need for catalog governance and spend reporting employee purchase portal the employee purchase portal provides a consumer like shopping experience within a corporate context employees can browse a curated selection of products offered at special employee discount pricing and purchase using personal payment methods this storefront is often branded with the company's logo and identity to reinforce the program as an employee benefit key personas employees — browse and purchase personal technology at discounted rates hr / benefits administrators — oversee the program, manage eligibility, and communicate availability program managers — define product selection, pricing tiers, and promotional campaigns type specific features discounted pricing — special employee only pricing negotiated by the organization personal use catalog — curated product selection appropriate for home/personal use (laptops, monitors, peripherals, software) program branding — custom branding to reinforce the program as a company benefit simplified checkout — streamlined checkout optimized for individual purchases without corporate approval routing eligibility controls — access restricted to verified employees via permission groups ideal for organizations offering technology purchase programs as an employee benefit or perk, enabling staff to buy personal devices at corporate negotiated rates employee onboarding / refresh (new hire) the employee onboarding/refresh storefront (also referred to as "new hire") is purpose built for day one readiness it connects hr workflows with it procurement so that new hires arrive to a fully provisioned workspace it also supports device refresh cycles, enabling organizations to proactively replace aging hardware on a defined schedule key personas hr / people operations — initiate orders as part of the onboarding workflow hiring managers — select and approve equipment for new team members new employees — view and, where permitted, customize their equipment selection it administrators — manage standards, configurations, and deployment workflows type specific features pre day one ordering — orders can be placed and fulfilled before the employee's start date role based kits — pre configured hardware/software bundles based on job role, department, or location (e g , "engineer kit," "sales kit") configuration bundles — bto (build to order) configurations including imaging, accessory kits, and welcome packages refresh scheduling — track hardware age and trigger refresh orders based on configurable lifecycle policies (default 3 year refresh cycle) warehouse integration — visibility into shi warehouse inventory levels for standard configurations, with risk level indicators based on 90 day rolling consumption ideal for organizations with structured onboarding programs, high volume hiring, or defined hardware refresh cycles that want to automate and standardize equipment provisioning site store the site store is designed for organizations with multiple physical locations — such as retail stores, branch offices, warehouses, or clinics — where each location needs to order from a prescribed, limited set of products the catalog is locked down to only the items approved for that site, ensuring consistency, compliance, and budget control across distributed environments key personas site / location managers — place orders for their specific location from a curated product set regional / district managers — oversee ordering activity across multiple sites it / operations administrators — define and maintain site specific catalogs and standards facilities / store associates — request replacements for on site equipment type specific features location specific catalogs — each site storefront surfaces only the products approved for that location prescribed reference sets — products standardized per location type (e g , all retail stores get the same pos hardware, all branch offices get the same networking equipment) policy driven product selection — product availability governed by organization policies or contracts, preventing unauthorized purchases standards only mode — optional policy to restrict browsing to company standards only, hiding the broader catalog multi site visibility — administrators can view ordering activity and inventory across all site storefronts ideal for retail chains, healthcare networks, hospitality groups, distributed office environments, and any organization with multiple locations that require standardized, location specific ordering global procurement portal the global procurement portal extends the standard procurement portal to support multi region, multi country procurement operations it enables global it organizations to maintain consistent procurement governance while accommodating regional differences in product availability, pricing, currency, compliance requirements, and shipping logistics key personas global it procurement leaders — set enterprise wide procurement policies and standards regional procurement teams — operate within regionalized catalogs and workflows global finance / budget owners — consolidate spend reporting across regions account administrators — manage multi ax account structures, linked accounts, and regional user permissions type specific features regionalized catalogs — separate catalogs per region with region appropriate products, pricing, and availability multi region workflow automation — approval workflows that account for regional approval hierarchies and compliance requirements consolidated budget controls — enterprise level budget visibility with the ability to drill down by region, department, or cost center multi ax account linking — link multiple ax accounts (by region or business unit) under a single tenant for unified data visibility, with data flowing from linked child accounts to the parent cross region reporting — aggregated spend, order, and asset reporting across all regions ideal for multinational organizations, global enterprises, and companies with regional subsidiaries that need centralized it procurement governance with localized execution punchout the punchout storefront integrates shi's catalog and ordering capabilities directly into a customer's existing procurement system users initiate their shopping session from within their erp or procurement tool, are routed to the shi storefront to browse and build a cart, and then return the cart to their internal system for approval and po generation this storefront type preserves the customer's existing procurement workflows while providing access to shi's full catalog and pricing key personas procurement system users — shop shi's catalog from within their existing procurement tool procurement system administrators — manage the punchout integration, catalog sync, and order data flow it integration teams — configure and maintain the technical connection between the customer's erp and shi shared / service accounts — in some cases, punchout access is managed through shared accounts rather than individual user credentials type specific features erp / procurement system integration — native integration with sap ariba, coupa, oracle, and other major procurement platforms catalog sync — automated synchronization of catalog data, pricing, and product availability between shi and the customer's system cart round trip — users build their cart on shi's platform and return it to their internal system for approval and po submission order data flow — order status, tracking, and invoice data flow back into the customer's procurement system servicenow integration — for customers using servicenow, integration via service bridge enables remote catalogs, order initiation, asset inventory sync, and stockroom updates ideal for organizations with established erp or procurement systems (sap ariba, coupa, oracle, servicenow, workday) that want to leverage shi's catalog and fulfillment without changing their internal purchasing workflows