We value our culture as something that helps us work together to achieve greater results as we work toward our mission.
Culture forms the standards for who we look to hire, what we evaluate, and how we approach departures. Mercari (as a company) and we (as its employees) stand on equal footing and choose each other based on company culture.
Culture is not set in stone; while there are some parts that should be kept, it’s important to keep evolving. Every one of us should think about how we can contribute to evolving our culture and work together to update it.

Values

Why are the values important?

We established Mercari Group’s three values a year after the company’s founding, to act as guidelines for what we need to do to achieve our mission. All decisions made at Mercari are based on these three values—from decisions about hiring criteria to employee evaluation, daily work, and management decisions. By having shared values between individuals and the organization, we can act fast by making quick decisions.

Go Bold

• In order to achieve great success, we need to think outside the box and keep trying new things again and again. If we just do the same things as others, we can never innovate. Taking on bold challenges like this, we bring Mercari to new heights.
• We don’t fear change; we proactively accept and incorporate new things through trial and error.
• We commend failure as a step toward success.
• We deep dive into where we have failed, document lessons learned, and share our findings, regardless of the result. In doing so, the whole organization can learn from what we have attempted in the past and use it to fuel new innovation.

All for One

• We prioritize working toward our shared goal of achieving the mission as a team. This allows us to realize greater success than we can as individuals, even if it means going outside of our scope of expertise.
• Each of us demonstrates a diverse set of strengths, trust, and respect for each other, and in doing so we are able to achieve extraordinary results together that would not be possible alone.
• Those in positions of responsibility take ownership over making decisions in a timely manner. We commit to the final decision, even if we disagree with it.

Be a Pro

• We all demonstrate strong expertise and abilities as a professional in our field, but we also hold ourselves to strong ethics and maintain responsible behavior.
• We remain professional in discussions, giving our opinions and contributing in a constructive way.
• We are always curious and ambitious; we continue to grow by learning and stretching ourselves in our work, overcoming difficulties along the way.
• We are users of Mercari Group’s services, but also use other companies’ services, and leverage that experience to continuously contribute to improving our own services. We remain committed to take action as Mercari employees rather than simply giving criticism.

Foundations

Why are the foundations important?

• Mercari has three values that serve as guidelines for action toward achieving our mission. In order for members to demonstrate these values to the fullest, our organization needs a shared foundation. Foundations come from not just one specific individual consciously demonstrating the values, but from the organization as a whole embodying them and creating an atmosphere where the values are respected and observed. We believe a shared understanding among the organization allows for smoother communication and decision-making among its members.
• We believe that internalizing key approaches and mindsets—Sustainability, Inclusion & Diversity, Trust & Openness, and Well-being for Performance—will give rise to a shared company culture among individual members, make Mercari a stronger organization, and accelerate its business growth.

Sustainability

Mercari is a marketplace where items that someone no longer needs are passed on to someone else who needs them. The more people use Mercari, the more of a positive impact we have on the environment. From the experience of reusing items and increasing interest in sustainability, people will gradually take on a more sustainable approach to buying, using, and disposing of items, ultimately leading to a new form of production/sales and changes all along the value chain. As the concept of “planetary boundaries,” referring to the limits of our earth’s resources, is becoming more widespread, we hope to continue generating a positive impact on the environment through our business. We use the phrase “planet positive” to express this desire to help solve environmental issues as we work to create a world where anyone can demonstrate their potential.

Inclusion & Diversity

There is more diversity in the world than any of us can imagine. Gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion or creed, neurological characteristics, physical ability, ethnicity, nationality, race, and age are just a few of a countless number of diverse backgrounds people can have. Mercari intends to realize a world where no one’s possibilities are limited by their background, and everyone is able to have transactions with everyone else, having the means to create value freely. To that end, Mercari Group strives to develop inclusive products and services. And, in order to develop products and services that are easy to use for as many people as possible, the people building them must be diverse, and the company must have a culture of inclusion. That is why we focus on inclusion and diversity inside the company as well, considering diversity beyond what meets the eye—promoting Mercari’s take on how to achieve I&D.

Trust & Openness

Mutual trust is very important for Mercari. Based on the premise of trust, information is kept transparent, and the organization is built flat. Even as the organization continues to expand, and we continue to introduce scalable mechanisms to promote diversity, we work to keep internal rules to a minimum. We also focus on making sure all members are as committed as possible to the decision-making process. This is because we believe that allowing members to take the initiative in deciding their approach and actions helps create personal growth, a stronger organization, and greater agreement with decision-making. The Mercari service itself is supported by our users, business partners, merchants, and many other stakeholders; mutual trust forms the foundation on which our service stands. Mercari values trust and openness in growing both our organization and our business.

Well-being for Performance

At Mercari, our idea of well-being is every individual taking ownership of their health (both mental and physical) in order to boost their potential and maximize their output and value-embodying behavior. Take athletes, for example, who compete on the global stage just like us. As they aim to become the world’s best, they take responsibility for their own well-being, constantly thinking about what they can do to break through their limits and perform to their greatest potential both as an individual and as part of a team. Like these athletes, we at Mercari need to take charge of our own mental and physical condition and keep demonstrating our best output and values in order to achieve our mission. Mercari will continue to fully support its members’ well-being so that they can take care of themselves and continue to aim for the stars.