
Digital growth for clothing and PPE suppliers.
The market for workwear and PPE is digitalising.
Large buyers expect a webshop that connects with their own procurement system. At the same time, as a supplier, you want to maintain control over customer-specific prices, assortments, and brands. That requires a platform capable of more than a standard webshop.
Epartment builds B2B solutions tailored to the complexity of this industry: from garment management systems and OCI punchout to EDI integrations and PIM management for large assortments.

Challenges
Solutions for your clothing and PPE webshop
Many retailers are stuck with outdated systems that no longer meet today's requirements. This often leads to:
1.
Customer-specific assortments and prices
Each customer has their own price list, product catalog, and sometimes their own branding. Police, ambulance services, municipal enforcement officers: they all wear clothing with specific requirements and logos. A platform needs to be able to configure this per customer, without requiring manual work.
2.
Clothing management systems
Larger clients want to be able to manage a clothing budget per employee. A clothing management system (CMS) allows budgets to be allocated, orders to be approved, and distribution rules to be set by role or department. This reduces administrative work on both sides.
3.
OCI punchout for purchasing via your own platform
More and more buyers do not want to log in to an external webshop, but want to order directly from their own procurement platform. With OCI punchout, you link your catalogue directly to the customer's system. This way, they order via their platform, while the order comes in to you.
4.
EDI for larger trade flows
For large suppliers and buyers, EDI is the standard for automatically exchanging orders, order confirmations, and invoices. Both on the purchasing and sales side, this saves time and prevents errors with high order volumes.
5.
Large and complex product range
A work shoe is available in ten sizes, three colors, and two versions. Multiply that by hundreds of products, and you have an assortment that quickly becomes overwhelming without proper PIM management. Products must be consistent, complete, and up-to-date across all channels.
Solutions
Our solutions for your clothing webshop.
Every retailer has its own specific needs. That's why we offer tailored solutions that not only improve your webshop but also make it scalable.
Advanced KMS portals for personalized purchasing
We develop intelligent Clothing Management Systems that fully automate issuance based on individual employee profiles. By defining budgets, points, and specific role-based assortments in a secure environment, you can ensure that every employee—from road workers to project managers—always orders the right, certified equipment within the set guidelines. From a unique design, we start the process of bringing this to life. This also involves a unique integration. Using the in-house developed Conneqt platform, Epartment can build a custom integration between SAP and Magento. Not just to simply transfer products back and forth, but also unique sub-products with logos or even customer-specific comments at order and line-item level. Quite a bit different from a standard purchase.

Seamless ERP integration via OCI and PunchOut
We eliminate manual order processing by directly connecting your e-commerce platform to ERP systems such as SAP, AFAS, or Microsoft Dynamics via OCI or cXML protocols. Buyers place their orders in your portal, after which the data is automatically synchronized with their own procurement environment for error-free handling, faster invoicing, and 100% data integrity.
Centralized PIM and assortment management
To manage the complexity of safety regulations and technical specifications, we implement a central Product Information Management (PIM) system. This provides a single source of truth for all your product data, making certifications (EN standards), size charts and stock levels available in real time and consistently across all digital channels.
Smart supply chain integration and dropshipping
We optimize your supply chain by directly connecting your platform to the warehouse systems of manufacturers or external logistics partners. Thanks to this integration, orders are automatically forwarded to the correct location, including instructions for personalization (such as logo printing), resulting in shorter delivery times, lower inventory costs, and a scalable business model for high volumes.
Impact
Results and benefits.
1.
Less manual work.
Customer-specific price lists, OCI punchout, and EDI replace manual processes. Fewer errors, less email traffic, more time for the work that matters.
2.
Higher customer satisfaction.
Customers order through their preferred channel, always see their own product range, and have instant insight into clothing budgets and order history.
3.
Manageable range.
A PIM keeps thousands of product variants consistent and up-to-date, even when new sizes, colors, or certifications are added.
3.
Ready for large accounts.
OCI punchout and EDI are requirements for large procurement organizations. By implementing them properly, you won't miss out on revenue from demanding customers.

Contact
Do you dare to collaborate?
Our team is eager to get started.
Proudly supplying
We've done that before.
Clothing sector cases
Relevant experience in the clothing industry.
Epartment has experience with suppliers in workwear and personal protective equipment. From complex B2B portals to KMS integrations and OCI punchout: we know the challenges in this market.
Can white-label collections be configured per customer?
Yes. In a well-structured B2B portal, every customer only sees their own product range, including customer-specific branding, logos, and product names. This also applies to clothing with specific requirements, such as uniforms for police, ambulance personnel, or public community officers (BOAs). You configure per account which products are visible, at what price, and with which ordering rules.
What is the difference between OCI punchout and a regular B2B webshop?
With a standard B2B webshop, the customer logs into your platform to place an order. With OCI punchout, the customer starts from their own procurement system, browses your catalog, and returns to their own environment with a filled shopping cart. The order reaches you as a standardized message. Large organizations with their own procurement platform are increasingly making this a requirement.
When is EDI relevant for clothing suppliers?
EDI becomes relevant as soon as you do business with larger buyers who require automated order processing. Think of large retailers, healthcare institutions, or government agencies that send orders through their own systems. With EDI, you process these orders automatically, without manual data entry. Both on the purchasing side (receiving orders from customers) and the sales side (placing orders with suppliers), EDI saves time and reduces errors with high volumes.
Why is a PIM important for apparel and PPE?
Clothing and PPE have a large number of variants: a work jacket comes in multiple sizes, colors, and styles, and a safety shoe also involves standards and certifications. Without a PIM system, product data quickly becomes outdated or inconsistent, especially when selling across multiple channels. A PIM centralizes everything, ensuring that your webshop, price lists, and any marketplace integrations always display the same accurate information.
What is a clothing management system?
A uniform management system (UMS) is a module or platform that allows a customer to manage clothing budgets per employee or department. Employees can place orders within their budget, managers approve them, and the supplier receives a consolidated order. This replaces the manual management of spreadsheets and scattered emails regarding clothing orders.
How do you handle size registration and reducing returns?
We implement digital fit profiles within the KMS. Once an employee has entered their sizes (or after a fitting session on-site), the system remembers these preferences. On a subsequent order, the user is automatically advised the correct size based on the specific fit of the brand, which drastically reduces the margin of error and the number of returns.
Is the platform suitable for managing personalized clothing with logos?
Certainly. The system can be set up so that customers see the desired personalization options immediately when ordering, such as the position of a company logo or a person's name. This information is directly included in the order flow to your workshop or logistics partner, through which the process of printing or embroidering is fully automated.
How do we ensure that the correct EN safety standards are visible?
By using a central PIM system (Product Information Management), we link technical specifications and safety certifications directly to the articles. This ensures that the correct information, such as EN ISO 20471 for visibility or EN 343 for rain protection, is always displayed correctly in the portal and on the packing slips, which is essential for your compliance registration.
Can we set different budgets and rights per employee?
Yes, our Clothing Management System (KMS) is fully configurable at the employee level. You can assign budgets in euros or points per individual or job group, unlock specific assortments (for example, only S3 shoes for field service), and set authorization workflows where a supervisor must first approve orders above a certain limit.
How does an OCI or PunchOut integration work exactly for our customers?
An OCI link (Open Catalog Interface) allows your customers to log into your webshop directly from their own procurement system, such as SAP or AFAS. The selected articles are then sent back to their own system as a 'draft purchase order', enabling them to approve and process the order in their own trusted environment without duplicate data entry.
What are the advantages of integrations with PIM or EZ-base systems?
All product information, ETIM classifications, and certifications remain automatically up-to-date. This prevents misunderstandings and guarantees the correct information for each article.













