Mercari, Inc. (“Mercari”) will begin crossborder sales to Taiwan through Shopee, the largest marketplace in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. This has been made possible through collaboration with BEENOS Group, which provides infrastructure support for crossborder e-commerce.
Background
According to a study carried out by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the global market scale for crossborder e-commerce in 2019 was 912.3 billion USD, with this market expected to drastically increase at an estimated average annual growth rate of approximately 27% through 2027.*1
With its mission to create value in a global marketplace where anyone can buy & sell, Mercari began crossborder sales to more than 100 countries in November 2019.*2 Since then, GMV from crossborder sales has steadily grown through June 2020, with demand in Asia predicted to be especially high.
As a result, Mercari has decided to begin crossborder sales through frequently-used marketplaces in specific countries and regions. As the first step, Mercari is partnering with Shopee, the largest marketplace in Southeast Asia, to start crossborder sales to Taiwan.
1. “FY2019 E-Commerce Market Survey”, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (July 2020) https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/it_policy/statistics/outlook/r1_betten.pdf
2. “Marketplace app Mercari begins crossborder sales to over 100 countries: Overseas Buyers Can Now Purchase Items Using Proxy Service” (November 2019) https://about.mercari.com/en/press/news/articles/20191115_crossborder-2/
Shopee is the largest marketplace in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, available in seven markets (Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines). With this partnership, users in Taiwan will be able to view and buy some items listed on Mercari through Shopee.
How It Works
When a user from Taiwan places an order on Shopee (https://shopee.com/), an official Buyee account* purchases the item on Mercari for the user. After inspecting and packaging the item, Buyee ships it to the user in Taiwan. As the international shipping is handled by Buyee, there are no changes to shipping methods or shipping costs for sellers on Mercari.
*Official Buyee accounts are accounts operated by the BEENOS Group for use in proxy purchases.
Proof of Concept
Starting in April 2020, Mercari carried out a proof-of-concept study on Shopee. From this study, Mercari has identified item categories popular among users in Taiwan.
Items that were not able to sell for years in Japan were purchased by users in Taiwan, showing that crossborder sales creates new demand.
Mercari will continue looking for ways to provide a safe and secure marketplace globally and fulfill its mission to create value in a global marketplace where anyone can buy & sell.