The Icecat catalog aims to provide you with a complete set of digital asset types to enrich a product data-sheet. This document gives an extensive description of the available product content types and digital assets that are used in Icecat product data-sheets or are linked to it.
This section describes from which attributes of an Icecat product data-sheet (in XML, JSON or CSV) it is possible to retrieve basic product information.
Please, note that the terminology (tag names, attribute names) used in JSON is newer, and more self-explanatory, than the terminology in XML and CSV. Nevertheless, the content is the same and compatible.
Brand name and its unique identifier can be found under the <Supplier> attribute inside the <Product> tag in product XML.
In case of JSON, brand name can be found under “Brand” and its ID under “BrandID”.
In case of both XML and JSON, we may have localized brand names.
In CSV, a user can find brand name under the column “Supplier”.
In case that you want to retrieve a complete list of brand names and their details, please download SuppliersList.xml.gz.
https://data.icecat.biz/export/freexml/refs/SuppliersList.xml.gz for Open Icecat users.
https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/refs/SuppliersList.xml.gz for Full Icecat users.
Product code is the Prod_id element in every product XML of Icecat
In JSON Product code is available behind the “BrandPartCode”
In CSV, product code can be found under the column “Prod_id”, a similar label as in XML.
In combination with a brand name, a product code can be used as the unique identifier for the matching of the products in your project’s portfolio and the Icecat catalog.
To get a complete list of products that are present in the Icecat catalog as well and their product codes, please work with our indexes:
https://data.icecat.biz/export/freexml/files.index.xml.gz for Open Icecat users.
https://data.icecat.biz/export/level/files.index.xml.gz for Full Icecat users.
The GTIN (EAN/UPC) identifier is also part of product XML. There can be one or several GTINs available per product XML.
The GTIN (EAN/UPC) numerical identifiers can also be used for matching of products between your portfolio and Icecat.
In JSON files, GTINs are available under “GTIN” and in CSV under the column “GTIN(EAN/UPC)”.
Product categorization is placed within the <Category> tag of a product XML at Icecat:
Category ID – Icecat identifier of a product’s category (numerical).Name ID – Icecat identifier of a product’s category name (numerical).langid – language code.Value – Textual description of a product’s category in the Icecat taxonomy.VirtualCategories – Virtual category is like an auxiliary part of a product categorization in addition to a stand-alone Icecat category. Example: “ultrabooks” is a virtual category of “notebooks” in Icecat.VirtualCategory ID – Icecat identifier of a product’s virtual category (numerical).UNCATID – United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC).
In case of category, we have the same identifiers in JSON files.
In case of CSV output, you can find the category name under the column “Category”.
To download the complete list of supported product categories within Icecat please check:
https://data.icecat.biz/export/freexml/refs/CategoriesList.xml.gz for Open Icecat users.
https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/refs/CategoriesList.xml.gz for Full Icecat users.
Many brands divide their products along different lines that we call ‘product families’ in Icecat. A product family can be found inside product XML as a separate entity called <ProductFamily>:
In JSON output, the same information can be found under “ProductFamily”
In a CSV output file, this family name is also available under the column “ProductFamily”.
This information may be very useful to process in case you’d like to download only products from a certain family or scope of families from Icecat.
All images related to a product can be found in the <ProductGallery> tag of product XML.
Product images can be localized. So, make sure that you work with the relevant local repository and correctly interpret the langid of an image. The absence of langid at an image, indicates that the particular image has the default (“International”) localization.
IsMain – Indicates if particular image can be taken as the first or main (most representative) one.
ThumbPic, LowPic, Pic500x500, HighPic, Original – ThumbPic – ≤75px picsLowPic – ≤200px picsPic500x500 – ≤500px picsHighPic – high-res pictures (the resolution depends on a brand’s original)Original – raw product image sourced from a brand through Icecat
#PicHeight, #PicWidth – Picture height and width respectively (in pixels)
#Size – Picture size in bytes.
No – Order number of a product image inside the gallery.
Type – For your convenience we attribute images within a product gallery to image types:
ProductPicture_ID – Numerical identifier of an image within Icecat.
UpdatedDate – Timestamp of an image which indicates the date and time when an image was updated/added in Icecat.
IsRich = 0 – Image is available to all Icecat users.
IsRich = 1 – Image is accessible only to resellers authorized by the brand. Please contact us if you want to access such images.
langid – Code of a language or locale to which an image is related. You find the complete list of supported languages (locales) and codes here:
https://data.icecat.biz/export/freexml/refs/LanguagesList.xml.gz – for Open Icecat users.
https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/refs/LanguagesList.xml.gz – for Full Icecat users.
Attributes – additional attributes related to an image.
OriginalFileName – This attribute is used for a standardized convention for product image naming, for example as provided through GS1. In case of GS1, a company prefix, document type, GS1 image naming indicator, angle identifier and an optional serialized component, are all part of the naming convention.
NOTE: ThumbPic, LowPic, Pic500x500 and HighPic images always have the .jpg extension, while Original pic is a raw image taken from official sources of a brand AS IS and thus is not post processed by Icecat. That means that Original pic can be in jpeg, jpg, png, bmp, tiff etc. extensions.
In JSON output files, images are represented in the image “Gallery” in the following way:
In CSV, only the main image is provided in different standardized resolutions under the columns: ThumbPic, LowPic, Pic500x500 and HighPic.
Other images are provided in the column “ProductGallery” in one resolution only.
The asset type that describes certain (proprietary) features of a product with textual descriptions and visual imaginary. Example: Bluetooth as a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances can be a distinctive feature of a smartphone. Feature Logos are assigned within Icecat automatically to products based on their specifications (spec values actually).
Feature Logos of a product can be found at the <FeatureLogo> tag in product XML:
ID – Icecat identifier of a FeatureLogo (numerical).
Feature_ID – Icecat identifier of a feature to which FeatureLogo is assigned (numerical).
Value – Feature value to which FeatureLogo is assigned.
LogoPic – URL to feature logo image in .png format.
Width, Height – Picture height and width respectively (in pixels)
Size – Picture size in bytes.
Description ID – Icecat identifier of a FeatureLogo’s textual description (numerical).
langid – Code of the language or locale of the textual description of a feature logo. The complete list of supported languages and codes can be found here:
In addition to <FeatureLogo> which is separate block inside product XML, we publish Feature Logos as images within the <ProductGallery> for our users convenience:
In JSON, “FeatureLogos” are available in the following way:
For those users that are looking for a more advanced implementation of FeatureLogos, we also publish a reference index file that shows the complete list of feature logo rules as supported in Icecat, which are dynamically applied to product data-sheets:
https://data.icecat.biz/export/freexml/refs/FeatureLogosList.xml.gz for Open Icecat users.
https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/refs/FeatureLogosList.xml.gz for Full Icecat users.
Icecat provides several types of textual descriptions of a product. To provide you with choice about which description types or combinations of description types, you would like to take from the Icecat catalog for your specific purposes.
<ProductDescription> is a part of product XML in Icecat that consists of several elements:
ProductDescription ID – Icecat identifier of a product description (numerical).
LongDesc – A marketing text or long description added by the brand owner or an Icecat content specialist based on an official source. This text may include basic (html) formatting elements like <b>, <i>, and \n.
ManualPDFSize – The size of product’s PDF manual in bytes.
ManualPDFURL – URL to PDF user manuals for a product.
PDFSize – The size of product’s PDF leaflet in bytes.
PDFURL – URL to the PDF leaflet of a product.
ShortDesc – Short description of a product that contains a very concise overview of key features (textual).
URL – Link to the official website of the brand that contains the product description.
WarrantyInfo – Product warranty information (textual).
langid – Code of a language (or locale) to which a product description is related. A complete list of supported languages and codes can be accessed here:
*Note: In old product data-sheets, PDF materials may be published within ProductDescription, while new ones include this content inside the MultimediaObject block.
In CSV, a user can download these assets from the column “ShortDesc”, “LongDesc”, “Folder_PDF”, and “Folder_Manual_PDF” respectively. In new product data sheets, PDFs can be found under the columns “PDF” and “Other Multimedia”.
In JSON, titles of assets are a bit more self-explanatory: ShortDesc=LongProductName, PDFURL=LeafletPDFURL.
Icecat automatically generates so-called “summary descriptions” that are separated into two types:
“Short summary description” (ShortSummeryDescription) – overview of key features and values that is generated automatically based on category-specific logic.
“Long summary description” (LongSummeryDescription) – same as above, but a more extensive version of a summary description that is also automatically generated within Icecat.
Both can be found within the <SummaryDescription> tag of Icecat product XMLs:
In JSON files, Summary descriptions are represented with the same name:
In a CSV output file, the column names are identical for these assets.
Reasons To Buy (RTB) content enhances traditional product descriptions by including rich content to improve the shopping experience of customers and improve conversion rates. RTB in Icecat can consist of several elements:
1) Title – a short text by which the RTB is determined (mandatory – always present).
2) Short description – a short explanation of a product’s benefit or its key feature (mandatory – always present).
3) Image – an addition to the RTB description or an icon that efficiently illustrates a product’s feature or its key benefit (optional).
In the Icecat XML interface RTBs are represented under the <ReasonToBuy> tag:
ReasonToBuy ID – Icecat identifier of RTB (numerical).
Value – Short textual description of the RTB that may contain basic elements of HTML code.
Title – Short name of the RTB (it can be a feature name).
HighPic – URL to the image that visualizes the RTB.
HighPicSize – Size of image in bytes.
No – Order number of the RTB.
langid – Code of a language or locale in which the RTB is provided. You can find a complete list of supported languages or locales and codes here:
Origin – an RTB might have two origins in Icecat:
1) Origin=”RTB” – when content was added as RTB within Icecat by a content specialist or brand representative.
2) Origin=”FeatureLogo” – when an RTB was created based on a FeatureLogo publication rule.
IsRich = 0 – the RTB is available to all Icecat users
IsRich = 1 – the RTB is accessible only to resellers authorized by brand as part of the brand’s exclusive rich media package. Please, contact us if you want to apply.
In JSON, the RTB asset is structured in the following way:
In CSV, elements of this asset are represented under the column “ReasonsToBuy”.
Bullet Points (BPs) are short phrases that summarize the main commercial properties and key benefits of a product. This content type can be found as a separate entity under the <BulletPoints> tag:
Value – Value of the BP itself
langid – Code of the language or locale in which the BP is written. You can find a complete list of supported languages or locales and codes here:
No – Order number of the BP in Icecat.
In JSON files, BPs are listed in the following way:
Product title is a type of product name or product description, which may consist of a combination of the following elements:
The product title is included in the <Product> tag:
In JSON, the title is marked as “Title” (see the image below), but in CSV this asset is listed under the column ProductTitle.
PDF materials are included in the <ProductMultimediaObject> tag of a product XML:
ContentType – indicates the type of multimedia object. May contain different content types:
Date – Time and date of PDF publication.
Description – Brief description of a PDF.
Width, Height – Height and width respectively in pixels. Not applicable to PDF content.
PreviewSize – Size of the material’s preview or thumbnail (in bytes). Not applicable to PDF content.
PreviewURL – the URL to preview the multimedia object. Not applicable to PDF content.
Size – PDF file size in bytes.
Type – the type of PDF content, which may contain the following values:
URL – URL to PDF.
IsRich=0 – the PDF or object is available to all Icecat users.
IsRich=1 – the PDF or object is accessible only to authorized resellers. Please, contact us if you want to request brand authorization.
UUID – Universally unique identifier (UUID) of an object. For more details please check here.
langid – Code of a language or locale in which a PDF’s text is written. The complete list of support languages, locales and codes can be found here:
Please, see the example of a PDF in the JSON fragment below:
In case of CSV, a user can find the multimedia assets under the column “PDF” and “Other Multimedia”,
Icecat fully complies with EU (and other governmental) guidelines and obligations and syndicates three digital assets related to energy efficiency:
Both can be found within the <ProductMultimediaObject> block of product XML:
NOTE: the EU Energy Label always has langid=”0″ as it is international, often multi-lingual content.
NOTE: the EU Energy Label can be published within Icecat as a link to the HTML page or as a link to a PDF document.
Please, see below an example of an EU product Fiche in its JSON file:
In CSV, these assets can be found under the columns “EU Energy Label” and “EU Product Fiche” respectively.
A brand’s video content can be uploaded into the Icecat catalog either as a video object or file, as a link to a video player, or as a Youtube link (only the official brand channels).
Product videos are a part of the <ProductMultimediaObject> tag and visible in product XML in the following way:
Date – Timestamps of a product video.
Description – Short textual description of a video
Height, Width – Not applicable to video content.
KeepAsURL – Indicates how Icecat delivers a particular project, as downloadable video object (KeepAsURL=”0″) or as a link to an embedded player (KeepAsURL=”1″).
MultimediaObject_ID – Icecat identifier of the multimedia object.
OriginalMD5 – 128-bit hash value of an object. For more details, please check here.
PreviewHeight, PreviewWidth – Height and width of a video’s preview image or thumbnail (in pixels).
PreviewSize – Size of of a video’s preview image or thumbnail (in bytes).
PreviewURL – URL to preview a product video.
ThumbURL – URL to preview a product video in thumb preset.
Type – Type of a video object. Possible values are:
URL – URL to video object.
IsRich = 0 – the video is available to all Icecat users
IsRich = 1 – the video is accessible only to authorized resellers. Please, contact us if you want to be authorized.
langid – Code of a language or locale in which a video is released. A complete list of supported languages, locales and codes can be found here:
NOTE for KeepAsURL=”1″ videos: in some cases Icecat changes the original source link to objects.icecat.biz. But the request of such an object will redirect you to the original source where video is hosted.
In JSON, videos are listed in the following way:
In case of CSV, you can find videos under the column “Video/mp4”.
The 3D view or so-called 360º object may be formed based on a set of product images that Icecat provides in the <ProductMultimediaObject> tag:
ContentType – indicates the type of multimedia object and may contain different content types:
Date – timestamp of the 3D object.
Description – a short textual description of the 3D object.
Height, Width – height or width of a graphical object in pixels.
MultimediaObject_ID – Icecat identifier of multimedia object (numerical).
Type – the type of an object which is “360” in case of 3D / 360º content.
IsRich = 0 – the 3D object is available to all Icecat users.
IsRich = 1 – the 3D object is accessible only to resellers authorized by the brand. Please, contact us if you want to be authorized.
langid – Code of a language or locale in which a 3D object is expressed. A complete list of supported languages, locales and codes can be found here:
ImagesList360 – Tag that indicates URLs to graphical objects (.jpg images) that participates in 3D view object, as well as numerical order of each image
Link – URL to graphical objects (.jpg images) of which 3D view consists
No – Numerical sequence of a graphical object in the list of images that forms the 3D view. Only the sequential display of these images will lead you to generate the correct 3D view object.
NOTE: in some old product data-sheets you may encounter still a flash-based 3D view objects with as ContentType=”application/x-shockwave-flash”. Please, keep in mind that flash is no longer supported in newer product data-sheets and by the market.
Users can find 3D objects in JSON files in the following order:
Icecat content and taxonomy specialists are standardizing the technical specs of a product, which allows you to build product search, filtering or even product comparison functions around product data.
Specs contain several elements:
This kind of content is placed inside the <ProductFeature> tag of an Icecat product XML.
Localized = 0 – indicates that only the INT (International) value is present for this feature.
Localized = 1 – indicates that only a Local (non-INT) value is present for this feature.
ID – Product feature ID – unique identifier of the INT feature for the particular product. ID is empty if the feature has an INT value only.
Value – International feature value added by an editor or the brand owner.
CategoryFeature_ID – Icecat relation (n:m) of a product feature to a category (numerical).
CategoryFeatureGroup_ID – Icecat identifier of a category feature group.
No – Relative importance of a feature within the Icecat catalog. The bigger the number, the higher the importance in the list of features.
Presentation_Value – Local feature value added by editor/brand. If this is missing, we publish the International value (see ‘Value’) by default.
LocalValue – Translated (for text) or converted (for numbers) from International values.
Measure ID – Icecat identifier of a unit of measurement applicable to a feature value (numerical).
Sign ID – Icecat identifier of a measure sign applicable to feature value (numerical).
Feature ID – Icecat identifier of a product feature on database entity level (numerical).
Name ID – ID of a feature name in the vocabulary (numerical).
langid – Code of a language or locale in which summary descriptions are written. A complete list of supported languages, locales and codes can be found here:
Value – Value inside <Feature> shows the name of a product feature in its respective language (see langid).
Mandatory – Defines the most important characteristics (technical features) of a product. Icecat aims to fill in mandatory features with standardized values, but in some cases data availability depends on brand.
Searchable – We recommend to build search/comparison and other functionalities around searchable features.
The complete list of category features including their parameters and attributes can be found in this reference file: CategoryFeaturesList.xml.gz.
https://data.icecat.biz/export/freexml/refs/CategoryFeaturesList.xml.gz — for Open Icecat.
https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/refs/ CategoryFeaturesList.xml.gz — for Full Icecat.
NOTE: all supported systems of measurement per country are part of LanguagesList.xml.gz.
Information regarding product variants can be found here.
A new development about which we’ll report soon.
Read further: Manuals, CSV, JSON, product content, product data, product data-sheet, product information, XML
Chief Operating Officer at Icecat
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