Mercari is a website that offers casual selling for internet users. It was founded in Japan, making it one of those odd Japanese native sites that actually has a presence in America. The site has been struggling to make money in America but I just created an account today and I just listed my first item, a Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones DVD, widescreen; this DVD came in an age when DVDs were important to the revenue stream of movie companies. I have already gotten 10 views after putting it on the site.
The question that I am asking here is this: Is Mercari the future of Japanese E-Commerce dominance?
Japan, being a society driven by the willingness to maintain its traditions was slower to embrace the internet than the United States. The Japanese mentality was to focus more on integrating mobile internet into their daily lives. However, this also meant that Japan was focused on its hardware not the software. This focus on hardware would prove one of the reasons why Japan fell behind in Information Technology while America and China continued to innovate in software engineering.
Mercari is the odd one out and represents something interesting in Japan. This is a Japanese site that has gotten much traction among the public in the country. In America it has been struggling somewhat but based on my interactions with the site, it seems that there is steady number of users who are trying to sell on there.
eBay is already heavily entrenched in the ecommerce market in America. Can Mercari really make a difference and gain a foothold in America.
What I think that Mercari has is the ease of use. Unlike the eBay app, Mercari makes it easy to sell items online. Ebay has entrenched buyers who have been on the site for many years and it makes it tough for someone just starting out to sell on there.
All it takes to list an item is to put in a couple boxes and you have a listing and people are ready to buy it. Ebay is better for power sellers, but it can be very confusing for a generation of users who grew up mostly interacting with the internet on phones not their desktops. Mercari is prefect fit for many Millennials and Gen Z types who simply want a storefront without all the messiness involved with it.
That is why I think in spite of the struggles it has having now, Mercari will probably be successful in at least Japan and then spread out to other countries. It is great that we are now going to get some competition in ecommerce. Competition will make the internet great again.
My Game Reviews 