30% of Obsolete Specs Cleansed from Icecat Taxonomy

The Icecat taxonomy used in its Product Information Manager (PIM) environment went through a major cleanup. A number of multimedia capabilities, related to 3D, HTML, logos and images, were improved. And, support of Macedonian and Austrian-German locales was added. Below the details:

Cleansed Taxonomy: 30% of obsolete specs removed

For years, Icecat has been enriching its taxonomy structure not only based on the input of the Icecat taxonomy team, but also based on the batch imports of manufacturer feeds. Especially, the manufacturer input led to a top-heavy Icecat taxonomy structure, where up to 30% hardly used manufacturer-specific specifications were included. Recently, we removed all the unused or hardly used specifications to make it significantly easier for  users to map the Icecat taxonomy to their internal taxonomy structure.

New: 3D images generation

Via the Icecat PIM, a user can attach 360 degree images to the product by uploading the relevant images in the right order via the multimedia objects section. In an automated way, the 3D (or 360 degree) images are generated, subsequently.

HTML page as new multimedia asset

In cooperation with HP, one of our sponsoring brands, a new multimedia asset is included in their product datasheets in Icecat LIVE: the free-format HTML page which fully supports the look & feel of HP. Now, we are working on the possibility for a user to upload the HTML asset to the product page via the Icecat PIM. 

The HTML asset is therefore also available for other brands.

No more duplicated local images

To avoid duplicated images on channel partner sites and Icecat portal, we have made it impossible to tag images in the Icecat PIM both as “international” and “local”  simultaneously. Tagging images with multiple locales, i.e., multiple country/language combinations, is of course still possible.

This also impacted certain manufacturer imports. For example, we have updated the logic of the batch import of the L’Oréal data feed: if we get an image of a product with both the international and non-international local tags, we will ignore the international tag and rely only on the the non-international locales to avoid duplicate images on the Icecat web site and the channel partner sites.

If a user tries to upload an image that is not in line with the Icecat standards via the product gallery, we now show the following error message: “The allowed image size: minimum – 200×200 px; maximum – 3000×3000 px. Please check your image size”

In the past, the minimum required size for RTB (Reason to Buy) logos to be uploaded via the Icecat PIM used to be 200×200 px. This requirement has been decreased to 75×75 px, as many feature logos are not available in higher densities.

Faster Brand Mapping

We have improved the Product Mapping page for product editors. Two drop-down lists, one with the Original brand and the other with the Destination brand, are upgraded in terms of usability and speed.  

Not changed-notification

We have implemented a pop-up notification on the PIM product page when a particular change is NOT saved. In that case, product editors see the following notification if they lose the internet connection: “You have lost internet connection. After restoring connection, valid feature values will be saved”.

ETL – Extract Transform Load

The team has been busy with bug fixes and functional improvements of the Extract Transform Load tool (ETL) that now gives product editors a better overview of the tasks that are in process and the results that were achieved by the particular task. Further, the product editors also got the possibility to create an export file containing only the features that have values by turning off the check box “Export empty features”.

Macedonian and Austrian-German Locales supported

Macedonian (MK) has been activated as a new language repository. Further, we have started to import the private assets for Austrian German language repository from the Philips data feed. The private assets are available only for authorised resellers of Philips.

Per country, in one or more locales, also the available generic specs Release Date (RD) and End Of Life (EOL) date per product are now used by the HP CAP data feed.