The real value is gathering what you'd buy anyway on the buy-around day and buying within the cap without losing any — SPU and routing pushing the reward into double digits is just a bonus on top

The real value of the Shopping Marathon comes before the multiplier — it's about timing your regular purchases to match the event

Rakuten Ichiba's Shopping Marathon (the Marathon) is a "shop-hopping" event where buying from more shops raises your point multiplier. The real benefit is gathering the daily goods, consumables, and stockpile items you'd buy anyway, and placing those orders during the Marathon window. Multipliers draw the eye, but the actual savings come from shifting your purchase timing to align with each Marathon.

This article explains the Marathon in its own order: the event cycle, the three rules of shop-hopping, how it differs from the Super SALE, building a shopping list in advance, and how to avoid waste-buying for points alone. Multipliers and SPU are bonuses on top — they only work when you already have purchases that can be timed to the event. For Rakuten's SPU and overall economic zone, see the Rakuten Economic Zone article; for point redemption, the Rakuten Points article; for how to route through a point site, the Rakuten Ichiba × Point Sites article.

Event cycle and the difference from the Super SALE — when is the Marathon, and what makes it different?

The Marathon and the Super SALE are separate events. The Super SALE runs a few times a year (typically 2–4 times) and centers on sale-priced items and half-price coupons. The Marathon, by contrast, runs many times a year and is a point-multiplier event — the feature is raising your point rate by buying from multiple shops, not discounting prices.

The Marathon doesn't lower prices, so the right mindset is not "wait for a sale" but "gather purchases you'd make anyway in a month where the Marathon is running." When it overlaps with the Super SALE you can benefit from both, but the Marathon alone is sufficient in most cases.

Layering the 5th and 0th of the month bonus (extra points with a Rakuten Card) onto the Marathon period adds more. Multipliers, caps, and conditions change with each event — always check the latest on Rakuten's official pages and Pointnavi.

The knack for using these two events differently is to "change which event you wait for, by whether what you want to buy is 'a specific item you want the price to drop on' or 'daily goods and consumables you'll buy eventually.'" If there is a specific high-priced item you have your eye on, like an appliance or brand-name product, waiting for it to appear in the Super SALE—where the price itself drops—often fits better; conversely, if you want to stock up and bundle things like shampoo and detergent that "you'll definitely buy eventually," the frequently-held Marathon is easier to align your schedule with. That is the division. When the two overlap, you can use both at once—sale-priced items in the SALE, daily-goods shop-hopping in the Marathon. But for both, the "price, multiplier, cap, and event schedule" change with timing and cannot be stated in advance. Rather than forcing a plan for the Marathon's sake, keeping the order of aligning the event dates to your original shopping plans is the basic. Always confirm the latest event status, multiplier, and cap on Rakuten Ichiba's official page and entry page, and on Pointnavi.

Three rules of shop-hopping — minimum spend, point cap, and entry

The Marathon's shop-hopping has three rules that will cost you if ignored. Understand all three before building your shopping plan.

More on the cap: The cap varies with each event and cannot be stated as a fixed figure. Always check the entry page and Rakuten's official site each time. If your plan includes high-ticket items (appliances, brand goods, etc.), calculate against the cap before you start. Points earned above the cap are lost.

Building a shopping list in advance — not "buy things for the Marathon," but "move things you'd buy anyway into the Marathon window"

The key to getting value from the Marathon is making a list ahead of time — not "buy for the Marathon," but "list what you'd buy anyway, then place those orders during the event."

For example, shampoo, detergent, food staples, pet supplies, medicines, kitchen goods — anything you'll definitely use — shift from "buy when it runs out" to "batch-buy when the Marathon runs." That habit alone naturally builds up your shop count.

• How to build the list: Check what's running low in the fridge, bathroom, and laundry room. Write down anything you'll need within the next 1–2 months. Finalize the list before the Marathon starts and decide which day in the event window to place each order.
• Tips for spreading across shops: Multiple items from the same shop still count as one shop. Split daily goods and consumables by shop to raise your count more efficiently.
• Stagger your orders: If one order falls just short of the free-shipping threshold, splitting it across two shops may raise your hop count more than padding the cart. Check shipping costs vs. points earned.
• Handling high-ticket items: If you have a pricey single purchase (appliance, brand item), calculate whether it alone hits the point cap. Burning the cap on one item zeroes out the points from every subsequent shop.
• Resist the "while I'm at it" temptation: During the Marathon, sale alerts and point-up notifications multiply. Don't add items that weren't on your list just because "the multiplier is high" or "it looks like a deal." That's the first line of defense against wasteful spending.

Note: furusato nozei (hometown tax donations) is excluded from the Marathon shop-hopping count. See the next section for details.

What works to keep your shopping list to "what you were going to buy anyway" is to set the line "I won't buy anything not on the list on the spot, no matter how high the multiplier looks." During the Marathon, notifications and banners surface point-boosted items one after another, and "one more shop bumps the multiplier up a tier" tempts you to add unneeded things. But the moment you add something you don't need, it is no longer saving—your spending increases, which is backwards. Be aware that the multiplier only becomes a gain when it rides on "spending you were going to do anyway." In practice for list operation: ① finish the list with a stock check before the Marathon, ② decide in advance "at which shop, for how much including shipping" you'll buy each item, ③ for a purchase just short of the free-shipping line, splitting it to another shop to earn shop count is sometimes more advantageous than forcing it into the same shop, so judge by the balance of shipping and points—holding these three avoids wasteful buying while raising shop count. Note that the minimum-purchase amount, free-shipping line, and shop-count conditions change by timing and shop, so confirm them on the entry page and each shop's display before buying.

5 steps to maximize the Marathon

1. ① Confirm the event and enterCheck the Marathon dates and entry button on the Rakuten Ichiba homepage. Enter before you buy — every single time.
2. ② Check the cap and conditions for this eventRead the cap on the entry page. Run numbers if you have a high-ticket purchase. Multipliers and caps change each event.
3. ③ Allocate your list across shopsSplit your planned purchases into ¥1,000+ orders by shop. If the 5th or 0th of the month falls in the Marathon window, pay with the Rakuten Card for an extra boost.
4. ④ Route through a point site to Rakuten IchibaWhen a Rakuten Ichiba routing offer is available, always use it. Check Pointnavi. Route right before purchasing and stay in the cart or search without navigating away. Rakuten Ichiba × Point Sites article.
5. ⑤ Use limited-time points before they expireMost Marathon points are limited-time. As soon as they arrive, decide on Rakuten Pay, Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Beauty, etc. as your outlet. Point expiry-prevention article.

What divides the result in these five steps is placing ②'s "confirm the cap" before the ③④ shopping, and deciding ⑤'s "exit for limited-time points" before they are granted. Especially for purchases including a high-priced item, without first confirming this time's earning cap, that single item can hit the cap and zero out the subsequent shop-hopping points. The cap and multiplier change each time, so confirm them on the entry page every time. For ④'s point-site routing, during a period when a Rakuten Ichiba routing offer is listed, you can stack it separately from the Marathon's shop-hopping points, but routing should be done right before the purchase, and after routing, do not leave the cart or search page, and do not move to a direct link in another tab—that is the iron rule. Whether an offer exists and its reward conditions change with timing, so confirm on Pointnavi before routing. And for ⑤, much of what the Marathon grants is limited-time points with a short validity, so to avoid scrambling after they are granted, deciding an "exit to use them"—like Rakuten Pay or your next Rakuten Ichiba purchase—before they are granted prevents expiry. See also the Point expiry-prevention article.

Furusato nozei is outside the Marathon — and point-site routing cashback has been fully banned since October 2025

Furusato nozei (hometown tax donations) requires caution on two fronts: the Marathon shop-hop count and point-site routing.

• Excluded from the shop-hopping count: Furusato nozei does not count toward the Rakuten Shopping Marathon or Super SALE shop tally. No matter how many donations you make, none are added to your shop count.
• Point-site routing cashback fully banned from October 2025 onward: Since October 2025, making furusato nozei donations via a point site (including Pointnavi) earns no point cashback. Layering on points through the Rakuten Shopping Marathon or Super SALE routing is also no longer possible. This is the result of a regulatory change. The previous technique of "stacking double or triple cashback through routing" is no longer available.
• Furusato nozei itself remains valid: The donation itself, receiving the thank-you gift, and the tax deduction via the final return or One-Stop Special Exception remain fully in effect. The core benefit — tax savings and the gift — is unchanged. See also the Furusato nozei article.

Mini glossary — key terms for the Shopping Marathon

The Marathon comes with its own vocabulary; misread a term and you'll miss out on multiplier points. Here's a quick rundown of the shop-hopping terminology. Specific figures (multipliers, caps, minimum amounts) change with each event — always confirm the latest on Rakuten's official pages and the entry screen.

For Rakuten's SPU and economic zone see the Rakuten Economic Zone article; for point-site routing see Rakuten Ichiba × Point Sites article; for expiry management see Point expiry-prevention article.

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