Icecat
Product Content
Marketing texts, image galleries, datasheets and technical specifications on the items you already have – matched by GTIN or by brand and manufacturer part number, from your own Icecat account.
What does the Icecat module do in Business Central?
The module queries the Icecat catalog for every item in your assortment and stores what the manufacturer released: marketing text, images, datasheets and technical specifications. The item is recognised by its GTIN, or by manufacturer code and manufacturer part number. It creates no items, supplies no prices, and never overwrites content you maintain yourself.
Product data the manufacturer released
Four kinds of content, each switched on separately – plus a report that tells you up front how much of your assortment the catalog actually covers.
Marketing texts
The manufacturer's text in every active language. It reaches your sales channels only where you have no text of your own – and can be written onto the item card as the Business Central marketing text.
Image galleries
Product images are copied rather than hot-linked – into your own media storage, or without one straight onto the item as its picture in Business Central. An existing picture is never replaced.
Datasheets & manuals
PDFs are attached to the item as product documents – datasheet, manual, leaflet or safety data sheet, each with its type and language. The file is fetched and stored, not linked.
Specifications as item attributes
Technical specifications are cached and listed by how many items carry them: you tick the ones your assortment really has, and they become BC item attributes you can filter and search by.
Matching without extra data entry
The GTIN first, otherwise manufacturer code plus part number – all standard Business Central fields. New items and corrected identifiers queue themselves if you want them to.
Coverage per brand
The report separates what Icecat carries from what actually has a marketing text – per brand, measured on your own assortment, including the items behind the gap.
You don't need a sales channel to benefit
With a shop or marketplace connected, the content flows there. Without one it stays just as usable – inside Business Central itself.
- Item attributesFrom the technical specifications – filterable and searchable like any other BC attribute.
- Datasheets and manualsAs product documents on the item, one click to open.
- Item picturesEven without a media storage account, straight into Business Central.
- Marketing text on the item cardAs the Business Central marketing text, and only into empty fields.
- Coverage reportThe answer to “how much of my assortment does Icecat actually carry?”
What arrives – and what will never happen
As important as the feature set: what the module leaves alone. That is what decides whether you can let it loose on your assortment.
| Content | Effect |
|---|---|
| Marketing text | A fallback: reaches a channel only where your own text is missing; optionally also written onto the item card |
| Image gallery | Copied into your own storage, or onto the item without one – limited per item |
| Item picture | Only set when the item has none |
| Datasheets | Attached as product documents, the PDF file itself is fetched and stored |
| Specifications | Cached – BC item attributes are created only for what you select |
| Item description | Only when it is empty, and only when you switch it on explicitly |
| Item creation | Does not happen – the module enriches what you already carry |
| Prices and stock | Do not come from here, but from your supplier connectors |
| Brand withdrawal | One action removes all content of a brand again, files included |
The content comes from your own account
The module is the connection, not the catalog. Registering takes a few minutes and is free for the open catalog.
Open Icecat is enough
A free Open Icecat account supplies both tokens and all content: texts, images, datasheets and specifications. A paid Full Icecat subscription only widens the range of brands covered.
Tokens stored encrypted
Both tokens live encrypted in the merchantCENTRAL credential store and are never displayed again after entry – the same place every other module keeps its secrets.
Licence obligations built in
Every text handed to a channel carries the attribution Icecat asks for, files are hosted rather than hot-linked, and the content of a brand can be removed again in a single action.
Icecat in Business Central
Do I need my own Icecat account?
Yes. The module provides the connection, the content comes from your account. Registering for the open catalog (Open Icecat) is free and takes a few minutes; a Full Icecat subscription covers additional brands.
Does the module overwrite the texts I maintain?
No. Your own marketing text always wins – the Icecat text only fills a gap where you have none. An existing item picture is left alone, and the item description is filled only when it is empty and you switch that on explicitly.
Does the module work without a shop or marketplace?
Yes. Specifications become item attributes, datasheets become product documents, images become item pictures, and the marketing text can be written onto the item card. A sales channel widens the benefit but is not a requirement.
What happens to items Icecat does not know?
No match is not an error: the row carries the reason, and the item is asked about again after a configurable period, because the catalog grows. Items with neither a GTIN nor a manufacturer part number are reported as such straight away – no catalog could find them.
Where do the images and PDFs live?
Always with you. With the merchantCENTRAL media storage set up, images go there and are served to the sales channels; without it they arrive as the item picture in Business Central. PDFs are attached to the item as product documents. In no case is anything hot-linked back to Icecat.
What do I need to get started?
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 28 or higher (cloud, Essentials or Premium), the free hub app AD merchantCENTRAL, an Icecat account, and a licence or running demo for the ICECAT module.
Manual, data sheet & online help
The complete user manual as a PDF – from setup through matching and coverage to troubleshooting. The online help is always current and reachable straight from Business Central.
User manual (PDF, German)
Setup, Icecat account, languages, matching, what arrives, the queue, the coverage report, specifications as item attributes, brand content removal and troubleshooting.
Data sheet (PDF, German)
The short version on three pages: feature set, boundaries, matching, controls and integration – made to hand on to a department head or to management.
Online help
Help pages for every page of the module – reachable in Business Central through the question mark menu, always up to date.
Complete product data, without writing it yourself
Install the hub and the Icecat module from AppSource, enter your Icecat account, and let the first coverage run go over your assortment. Free for 30 days.