Mercari Expands to Hong Kong after Taiwan success; Japan Listings available for purchases

Following Success in Taiwan, Items Listed on Mercari Marketplace in Japan Are Now Available for Purchase in Hong Kong

Mercari, Inc. (“Mercari”) announces that it has expanded to Hong Kong through crossborder transactions as part of its global strategy, starting on May 7, 2025. Hong Kong residents are now able to register as Mercari users and purchase items listed in Japan through the Mercari website. After Taiwan, this marks the second overseas location to which Mercari has expanded through crossborder transactions.

To commemorate the launch of this service, starting May 8, 2025, Hong Kong users who make a purchase on Mercari for the first time will receive a coupon for 30% off their next purchase (up to 3,000 JPY or approx. 160 HKD off).

 

Mercari’s initiatives involving the crossborder e-commerce market

According to a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry survey, in 2021, the global crossborder EC market was estimated to be worth 785 billion USD and is expected to grow exponentially to 7,983 billion USD by 2030 (annual growth rate of approximately 26%).

As part of its medium-term business strategy, Mercari has focused on further global expansion, beginning crossborder transactions in 2019, and has worked to accelerate the circulation of value not just for users in Japan, but overseas as well. Through partnerships with 79 crossborder e-commerce companies, items listed on Mercari are currently available for users to purchase in approximately 120 countries and territories.

Starting in August 2024, Taiwan residents became able to register as Mercari users and directly purchase items listed in Japan through the Mercari website. Taiwan is the first overseas location where local residents can register directly as Mercari users. By March 2025, the service reached over 200,000 registered users and is currently being used by many to purchase unique items from Japan through the Mercari website. To provide our services to users in even more countries and territories, we have now expanded operations to Hong Kong.

 

Background of Mercari entering the Hong Kong market

Due to Hong Kong’s small size, approximately 25% of online purchases in the territory are crossborder transactions. Within this segment, Japan is ranked third in popularity, following China and the US. Japan is also a popular tourist destination, with Hong Kong ranking first among countries and territories with the highest population ratio of visitors to Japan in 2024. Mercari’s expansion into Hong Kong through crossborder transactions stems from the local market being very open to Japanese products.

In addition, Hong Kong ranks fourth in both transaction amount and number of transactions for crossborder transactions with Mercari through a proxy service, making it an already active market. The average transaction amount (per purchase) of Hong Kong users in crossborder transactions on Mercari is high—compared to other countries and territories, Hong Kong has the highest average transaction amount in almost all categories. Compared to other countries and territories, character merchandise is a popular category and accounts for the majority of transactions, making it a promising market for unique Japanese items.

 

Overview

With the launch of this service, buyers in Hong Kong are now able to register as Mercari users and purchase items listed in Japan from the Mercari website.
Users can choose to display the Mercari app in traditional Chinese characters or English, and display prices in Japanese yen or Hong Kong dollars.

Mercari will continue to take on the world through its crossborder transaction business to create a global marketplace going forward.