Start with a file or one product
Upload a CSV or text product list, or add an item by hand. Commerce interprets the columns and shows sample rows so you can correct the mapping before saving the catalog.
Intelligence / Commerce
Make your products findable. Put every proposed purchase through a rule.
Give buying software a catalog it can search, with a switch you control. For buying, define a mission in your own words, set a hard per-purchase ceiling, and decide when a person must approve. Test the rules before relying on them and keep a record of what was checked.
For selling
Turn the product list you have into a shop window software can read.
Keep control over both the source and whether it is visible beyond your company.
Keep the list current
Upload again when information changes, or point Commerce to a directly accessible HTTPS product feed. You can re-read that feed on demand.
Choose when to publish
Open or shut your public shop window with a switch. When open, buyers’ software can search or page through a catalog containing product code, name, description, category, unit, price, currency, availability, and a link. Private costs, stock counts, and people data stay out.
See what buyers asked
Search your own published window the way a buying agent would. Commerce also records catalog questions and shows which returned no products, so gaps in discoverability are visible.
For buying
Give each purchasing job its own words, limits, and decision trail.
A proposal is checked against the saved rule. Proposing it does not itself move money or place an order.
Describe the mission
Name what you need, add specifications, and optionally set a quantity and deadline. Keep separate missions for separate buying jobs instead of forcing everything under one company-wide limit.
Set a hard ceiling and approval mode
Choose “Ask me every time” or “Automatic up to a line.” The hard ceiling applies to each purchase; anything above it is refused. At or above the automatic line, a proposal waits for a person.
Rehearse without spending
Enter a test purchase against a saved mission. The rehearsal uses the same policy checks as a proposal and shows whether it would be approved, refused, or held for a person, along with the checks behind that result.
Keep the exact rule on record
Edits make a new version while retaining the earlier wording. Commerce records rule changes, individual policy checks, and human approve or decline decisions in a browsable timeline.
An example in practice
Check both sides before letting Commerce do its work.
A product team and a purchasing owner can use the same workspace for distinct jobs.
Prepare the catalog
Map a product export, review the interpreted rows, save the products, and open the public shop window when the list is ready.
Try a buyer’s search
Search the published window and inspect exactly what an outside buying agent would receive. Unmatched questions reveal catalog gaps.
Set and rehearse a buying mission
An owner or admin saves the mission’s hard ceiling and approval mode. A test proposal shows each policy check without spending money.
Follow the record
Review the saved rule version, proposal checks, and any human decision in Commerce’s timeline.
The result
What you take away.
A product catalog that buying software can actually query, buying missions with explicit per-purchase limits, a safe way to rehearse both flows, and a traceable record of policy checks and decisions. Owners and admins can assign a Commerce manager; changing spend rules stays with an owner or admin.
For existing agreements and financial records, Contracts & Spend is a separate HR workbench. It previews extracted contract details beside supporting quotations, and reviews spend, equipment, and finance spreadsheets before saving them.