Rakuten Advertising Integration Guide

As a Shopify Plus Partner, Pandectes provides a seamless way to integrate with Rakuten Advertising. This integration ensures that your affiliate marketing efforts remain fully compliant with GDPR and other global privacy regulations by synchronizing user consent with Rakuten’s tracking parameters.

What is the Rakuten Integration?

Rakuten Advertising requires specific signals to determine whether a user has consented to tracking. When this integration is enabled, Pandectes automatically manages two critical Rakuten consent variables:

• __rmcp2: This variable communicates the general consent status for Rakuten's tracking services.
• __rmuspc: This variable is specifically used to handle US Privacy compliance (relevant for CCPA/CPRA), ensuring that "Do Not Sell or Share" preferences are respected.

How it Works

The integration maps your store’s consent categories to Rakuten’s requirements.

1. Marketing Consent: When a visitor accepts the Marketing category in your Pandectes banner, the integration triggers the "Granted" signal to Rakuten.
2. Variable Synchronization: Pandectes updates the __rmcp2 and __rmuspc variables in real-time based on the user's interaction with the banner.
3. Compliance by Default: If a user rejects cookies or has not yet made a choice, the integration ensures that tracking remains restricted, protecting you from non-compliance.

How to Enable Rakuten Integration

Setting up the integration is simple and requires no coding.

1. Enable the Integration

• Open the Pandectes GDPR Compliance app in your Shopify admin.
• Navigate to Settings > Integrations.
• Find Rakuten Advertising and toggle the switch to Enabled.

2. Configure the Variables

Once enabled, you will see checkboxes for the Rakuten variables. Select the ones applicable to your store's requirements:

• Check __rmcp2 if you are targeting users in the EU/UK or require general consent signaling.
• Check __rmuspc if you have customers in the United States and need to comply with CCPA/CPRA.
• Click Save at the top of the page.

Why this is Important

For high-growth brands affiliate marketing is a key revenue driver. However, failing to pass consent signals can lead to:

• Data loss: Conversions may not be attributed if the consent signal is missing.
• Legal risk: Tracking users without explicit consent (especially in the EEA/UK) can result in heavy fines.
• Network Suspension: Large ad networks like Rakuten increasingly require CMP integration to maintain account standing.

Troubleshooting & Verification

To verify that the integration is working:

1. Visit your store in an Incognito/Private browser window.
2. Open the Developer Tools (Right-click > Inspect > Application tab > Cookies).
3. Before accepting the banner, check that the Rakuten variables are either absent or set to a "Denied" state.
4. Accept Marketing cookies and verify that __rmcp2 updates to reflect the granted consent.

Updated on: 10/02/2026