Lack of real-time and user-friendly Rakuten alert tools

TrackRak ([www.trackrak.com](http://www.trackrak.com)) started when I was part of a large travel group where people kept saying they wished someone would build a Rakuten alert tool. I was a big Rakuten user myself, so I decided to create it, and I’ve been steadily growing it ever since. There are a few similar tools out there, but I found many of them confusing or overly complicated for what I needed. TrackRak was built to be super simple and Rakuten-focused, while still offering powerful features. Here’s what makes it different: * **Email AND text/SMS alerts** — Many users prefer to receive notifications via text for instant awareness. We are the only tool that sends texts (we do also send emails). * **Real-time alerts** — Other tools send out emails once in the morning. Rakuten numbers *do* change throughout the day, so if you want to be the first to know when those Rakuten Big Give deals drop, you'll get notified by TrackRak before other tools, since it scans all day long. * **Smart Alerts™** — TrackRak will *only* notify you when rates trend *upward*. You won't get daily, repetitive notifications telling you that PetSmart is *still* at 10% back, even though it's been there for 4 days. You'll get the initial alert, and won't be bothered again until it goes higher. This reduces alert-fatigue.  * **Suggestion Box** — This is a box with historical data that appears instantly when you select your store, so you have realistic data to set a reasonable alert. You probably don't want to set a Dell alert for 5% since you can see instantly that it's been at 15% recently.  * **More historical data with Smart Charts™** — TrackRak currently shows \~500 days of data, as we scale toward a full 2-year dataset. Users can identify recurring trends, anticipate spikes, and click any chart data point to automatically create an alert. (Other tools max out at one year.) * **Rakuten In-Store Offers Activator extension** — Add all Rakuten in-store offers with one click so you never miss out on cash back when shopping! Premium users only. There is a free plan so give it a try!