Previously, when searching for products on Rakuten, users encountered difficulties when different sizes or colours of the same product were listed separately on different pages. This made it challenging for users to find specific variations of a product. With the implementation of the Rakuten SKU Project, different variations of a product can now be listed on the same page, significantly improving the user experience and making Rakuten Ichiba more user-friendly.


Shopify Merchants have been given a Migration Date and were sent emails leading up to the migration date.


The following actions must be taken by Merchants for their stores to be fully migrated:

  1. Prior to the Migration Date, the merchant needs to consent to the updated API conditions from Rakuten. 
    Instructions: https://scribehow.com/shared/Accept_Proposed_API_Access__EJA85dmMTxaPDUA40qgaFA

  2. Ensure all orders is completed before their migration date at 4am JST
    Instructions: https://scribehow.com/shared/How_to_Fulfill_and_Track_Orders_in_RMS_Rakuten_Copy__41tQOmrSRM-gTyM-hCD8cw

  3. On the Migration Day, Merchants are suggested to confirm with rakuten@bywardlabs.com that Steps 1 & 2 have been completed.  Scripts will be executed by the Bywardlabs team to update all products to conform with the New API at 8am JST.

  4. After 4am-8am JST on their migration date, Merchants must update and publish their products on Shopify (particularly multi-page products) after Rakuten has moved their account.
    Instructions: https://scribehow.com/shared/Guide_to_Editing_and_Publishing_Products_on_Shopify_Copy__ynxJyNP0QHydXNy9vE2Prw



What to do After SKU Migration?

If you have sometime, please check the following articles for what's new after migration

  1. After SKU Migration - Publish Shopify Products to Rakuten
  2. Unpublish Products
  3. Bulk Product Editor
  4. Important Notice After SKU Migration
  5. How to move Reviews
  6. Machine Dependent Characters
  7. Importing Items from Rakuten