Global e-channel expanded by 23% in Q1-2016 according to Icecat

According to the Icecat figures, global e-channel expanded by 23% in Q1-2016 measured in product data-sheet downloads by ecommerce users. Icecat Top 1000 brands headed by HP, Lenovo and Philips. All-In-One PCs show explosive growth with data-sheet downloads. DELL and Apple do very well in the e-channel and office supplies brands like Rexel and Esselte are growing the fastest. Office, Beauty & Toys are trending categories.

E-channel expands by 23% globally

The global e-channel continues to develop very fast in Q1-2016 compared to the same period one year earlier: by 23% in terms of connected channel partners. In Q1-2016, Icecat facilitated a 1.2 billion product data-sheet downloads for products from 13 thousand different brands and 2,948 different categories.

A data-sheet contains product specifications as standardized by Icecat, and rich media if permitted by the respective brand. The number of monitored brands increased by 22% and the number of supported categories grew by 33%.

"Icecat's Top 1000 Brands & Categories increasingly includes brands and categories from sectors like DIY, Toys, FMCG, Fashion, and Health & Beauty", according to CEO Martijn Hoogeveen. "Etailers want all their portfolio to be described and we seek to do just that."

54% of the Icecat data-sheet downloads are real-time (live) by end-users; 46% have a mass download (data) character through mainly xml.

High correlation between Icecat downloads and PC shipments (IDC)

Comparing annualized trend figures in global PC shipments (IDC Q1-2016) and Icecat data-sheet downloads for tracked PC brands, we see a very high (83%) correlation, which implies a linear relation between both downloads and shipments. This is not strange, as Icecat downloads are also related to online product popularity, catalog size and the number of product introductions, and the PC industry is completely ecommerce enabled. This further validates the use of Icecat downloads as a measure or predictor of shipment or business revenue trends.

High correlation between global annualized trends in PC shipments and Icecat downloads for Q1-2016.

DELL and Apple do very well in the e-channel

The Icecat Top 1000 Brands is headed by HP, Lenovo and Philips. At the top of the list, most progress is made by DELL (+58%), Apple (+51%) and ASUS (+33%).

Office Supplies brands Rexel and Esselte are growing the fastest

The fastest developing E-channel brands in Q1-2016 are office supplies brands Rexel and Esselte and Lowepro (cases). The most famous fast-growth brand is Disney, because of licensing deals for items such as mobile phone cases.

Note: in the above Fast-Growth Brands overview, we ignored brands with less than 100,000 data-sheet downloads in Q1-2015.

All-In-One PCs show explosive growth

The Icecat Top 1000 Categories is headed by Notebooks, PCs/Workstations and Warranties. The most notable growth is that of All-In-One PCs and All-In-One Workstations.

Office, Beauty & Toys trending categories

The Fast-Growth Categories in Icecat in Q1-2016, are led by magnetic boards and staplers (office supplies), eyelash mascaras (health & beauty) and board games (toys). These categories are exemplifying significant trends in the ecommerce world.

Last updated: Apr 7, 2020 at 12:11 pm CDT