Growing database load
Millions of datasheets and media files meant the original database design had to be revisited rather than simply given more hardware.
Case study · Product content syndication · Since 2002
Icecat: one global product catalog, supported from the first line of code
Brands need quality product information to reach the channels that sell for them. Icecat publishes and syndicates that content to tens of thousands of channels worldwide — and Bintime has been the engineering team behind it since 2002.
- 22 yrs
- Partnership, 2002 – ongoing
- 18
- People in the dedicated team
- 85K+
- Channels and users served by the client
- 60+
- Languages of product datasheets
About the client
A global publisher and syndicator of product information
Icecat NV publishes and syndicates product information to tens of thousands of sales and marketing channels worldwide, for online and offline use. It ranked 47th in the Main Software 2021 edition with a score of 80%.
In cooperation with 300+ sponsoring brands and online channel partners, Icecat offers Open Icecat — the only worldwide unique open catalogue — with product datasheets in 60+ languages, standardised in formats built for implementing, categorising, filtering, searching and comparing products. Alongside the free Open Icecat, the fee-based Full Icecat covers 30k+ brands with more than six million described products.
Its integration partners include Aliexpress, Amazon, Google Shopping, Shopify and Magento.
- Industry
- E-commerce · Retail
- Location
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Partnership period
- 2002 – ongoing
- Team size
- 18 people, dedicated
Services
Expertise delivered
Technologies
Business challenge
Complex functionality that still has to be simple and fail-safe
From the concept onwards, Icecat’s aim was an innovative product with complex functionality that would be user-friendly and fail-safe. Those three requirements pull against each other, and over twenty years the volume of data pulled hardest.
Content in 60+ languages, standardised
Datasheets have to arrive in formats that channels can implement, categorise, filter, search and compare — the same content, many shapes.
Innovation without instability
A catalogue that tens of thousands of channels depend on cannot be experimented with carelessly. New features had to ship without putting delivery at risk.
Approach
Keep pace with the client's own rate of innovation
The team adopted an agile approach, converting Icecat’s requirements and ideas into platform features cost- and time-efficiently, and reducing their time to market. That is the working relationship: the client innovates commercially, the team turns it into shipped functionality.
To manage the increasing database loads of millions of datasheets and media files, the developers optimised the team to be T-shaped, adapted the existing database architecture and implemented new technologies where the original ones had reached their limits.
Engagement modelAn 18-person dedicated development team, T-shaped by design, working with Icecat continuously since 2002.
- 01
Agile against a commercial roadmap. Requirements and ideas converted into features, with time to market as the measure.
- 02
A T-shaped team. Engineers who move across the stack, so growth in one area does not create a queue behind one specialist.
- 03
Database architecture adapted, not replaced. MySQL kept where it fits, with Cassandra, ClickHouse, Elastic and MongoDB added where the load demanded a different shape.
- 04
Content delivery as a product. XML, JSON, CSV and Icecat LIVE, so integrating the catalogue is a channel’s choice rather than a project.
- 05
Review functionality against revenue. Constant reviews of what the functionality earns keep a twenty-year platform from accumulating features nobody uses.
Value delivered
From the first line of code to a market leader
On Icecat’s way to becoming an IPO-listed enterprise and a market leader in product content distribution, Bintime has supported it throughout. Today that shows up as:
Brands sponsoring content development
Including L’Oréal, HP, Asus and Xerox — brands paying to have their product content in the open catalogue because it reaches their channels.
Languages of structured, timely product content
Localisation is not an add-on here: it is the reason a channel in one market can use content prepared for another.
Brands covered by Full Icecat
More than six million described products in the fee-based catalogue, alongside the free Open Icecat.
Marketplace integration and open formats
Seamless integration with key marketplaces such as Amazon, Aliexpress and Lazada, with content downloadable in XML, JSON, CSV and Icecat LIVE.
Expanding cooperation
Stability and innovation, at the same time
Bintime supports Icecat in keeping the platform stable while continuing to innovate. Constant reviews of functionality against the revenue it produces are how those two goals are held together.
The traditional PIM market is crowded, but PIM plus syndication still offers room — and that is where Icecat positions itself, with a freemium model built on an open catalogue and expectations of continued fast growth.
Acquisitions have left Icecat with several PIM tools — Cedemo, Icecat, Iceshop, Syndy — so the next step is simplification: developing one PIM. Fewer platforms mean an ecosystem that is easier to maintain and operate. In parallel, the team is building a new generation of connectors to Amazon in answer to brands’ demand.
FAQ
Questions we get about product content platforms
What does product content syndication mean?
Publishing standardised product datasheets to the channels that sell the products — in formats a channel can implement, categorise, filter, search and compare without rework.
Open Icecat or Full Icecat?
Open Icecat is the free, brand-sponsored open catalogue with datasheets in 60+ languages. Full Icecat is fee-based, covering 30k+ brands and more than six million products.
How do you handle millions of datasheets and media files?
By adapting the database architecture and adding technologies suited to each load — Cassandra, ClickHouse, Elastic and MongoDB alongside MySQL — instead of scaling one database indefinitely.
Which marketplaces is the catalogue integrated with?
Integration partners include Aliexpress, Amazon, Google Shopping, Shopify and Magento, with content available in XML, JSON, CSV and Icecat LIVE.
What is the team working on now?
Consolidating the PIM tools acquired over the years into one platform, and building a new generation of connectors to Amazon.
Can a team stay useful for twenty years?
Only if it keeps changing shape. Here that meant a T-shaped team, an architecture revisited as volumes grew, and functionality reviewed against what it earns.
Start a conversation
Product content stuck between systems?
Tell us where your product data lives and where it needs to go. We come back with an architecture direction, a team shape and the first ninety days.
- Reply within 24 hours from someone who can scope it
- Reference calls with existing clients, where they agree
- NDA signed before any detail is shared
Thank you
We will get back to you within 24 hours with next steps.