What is rate limiting?

Rate limiting means that there is a limit on the number of data requests that can be made. When too many requests are made at once, the external platform cannot cope with all requests. The software becomes sluggish and might even experience downtime. To prevent this, platforms like Shopify and Magento apply rate-limiting. The integration is put 'on hold' because you ask too much too soon. You're allowed to send and retrieve more data when a cooldown period has passed.

How does Spotler Connect handle rate limiting?

We try to communicate data in real-time when the situation permits. Once rate-limiting applies, we switch to bite-sized packages of data for retrieval or sending. We try each request multiple times, honoring the cooldown period that is set by the external platform. When a data request is not processed after 3 hours, the request is cancelled, and we will send you an error notification.

What can you do about rate limiting?

Rate limiting issues can be disruptive to your operational flow. There are two ways you can approach this:

Several platforms allow you to upgrade your shop subscription to allow for more data requests per second. Shopify allows twice as many requests in their Shopify Plus subscription as compared to the basic subscription. Upgrading is usually the simplest way to get rid of rate limiting issues.
When upgrading isn't possible, you can limit the number of changes you make to data in your shop at once. When Spotler Connect detects a change in a product or order, it will immediately take action. If you update orders or stock through mass import like a CSV-import or bulk-edit, these changes will be detected and processed at once. While Spotler Connect does honor rate-limiting when an external platform tells us to, the issue can be prevented altogether if changes are spread out over time. Plugins or custom software can assist you with this.

Rate Limiting