Mercari NFT was launched in January of 2025.

What makes it remarkable is that, unlike conventional NFT marketplaces, it does not require cryptocurrency or wallets. Instead, users can easily buy and sell NFTs with their existing Mercari accounts and payment methods such as Merpay. This significantly lowers the technological barrier to trading NFTs and opens up opportunities to those who may never have had access to NFTs otherwise.

This article explores how this innovative service came to be, the challenges that had to be overcome to achieve it, and what the team that created it envisions for the future. We spoke with three product managers who led the project, Nobuaki Suzuki (@nobu), Ryo Moro (@morochan), and Yuko Fukasawa (@yuffy), to learn about the journey to release and all the trial and error along the way.

The NFT project launched by a youthful team

──What led Mercari to enter the NFT space?

@nobu：The planning of Mercari’s NFT project started sometime around July of 2023. Initially, the plan had examined the concept of buying and selling digital items on Mercari rather than NFTs specifically.

The turning point that led the project to focus on NFTs came after a hackathon hosted by Mercoin in February 2024. A group of students who had joined the hackathon then joined Mercoin as interns and launched a proof of concept to integrate NFT listings from OpenSea and enable users to purchase those NFTs on Mercari.

Product development at Mercari usually starts with user interviews to identify pain points and needs, then planning improvements and designing new experiences to address those needs, formulating product specifications, and finally, development. However, since testing whether it would even be possible to allow users to purchase NFTs from their Mercari accounts was such a technically challenging project, our team of mainly interns focused first on getting it to work technically, while planning ran in parallel.

──After that, how was the Mercari NFT business established?

@nobu：Digital items of various formats are being bought and sold today, but most either cannot be resold or have restrictions around resale.

On the other hand, when people buy physical items, they often check the resale value on Mercari first. This created the behavior of purchasing items, even if they may feel a bit expensive, with plans to sell them later on. his behavioral shift led us to hypothesize a similar change could occur in the market for digital items, which was the genesis of our idea for Mercari NFT. We wanted to create a platform that would enable people to freely resell digital items and contribute to increasing the inherent value of digital items themselves. It would take time, but we determined that NFTs were the most suitable technology at the time for achieving this vision.

In anticipation of a future in which more and more digital items would become NFTs, we decided that if Mercari was going to create a marketplace for digital items, we should start with NFTs. Fast forward to April 2024.
Right around this time, our interns had completed their proof of concept and successfully demonstrated that it was technically achievable to purchase NFTs from a Mercari account. But organizationally, most team members working on the NFT project were splitting time between work for other teams. April also coincided with the start of the new school year, which sent the interns back to school. It became clear that if we were going to release the service, we needed a proper team structure.

In June 2024, we received approval to launch the marketplace for digital items, starting with NFTs, as a new business. By July, we had officially established the Mercari NFT team. That’s when we began working toward the service’s release.
Although that sped things up on the business side, we still had to navigate complicated regulations and had not yet fully designed the user experience. It was during this period of chaos when @morochan joined.

Starting from the chaos of a blank slate

── What was it like jumping into the chaos of the NFT project?

@morochan：The impression I got at the time was that literally nothing had been decided yet (laughs). The only thing that was set was the stretch goal of releasing the service within the year.

@nobu：On top of that, at the time we were a small team of just a few members, but we were all committed and striving toward ambitious goals together.

──There must have been a lot of hurdles to overcome to get from that point to the launch.

@nobu：The interns had already tackled the technical validation, so there were relatively few concerns on the technical side. What we lacked was a clear articulation of the value customers would derive from the service. That’s where @morochan really helped clarify things.

@morochan：Yes. I did extensive UX research and conducted various tests.

──What did that UX research involve specifically?

@morochan：Well, we started from the hypothesis that many Mercari users would be unfamiliar with NFTs. To test this, we showed them actual NFTs from OpenSea, an online marketplace for NFTs, and asked things like, “What do you think this is?” We also created a mockup of a screen where users could purchase NFTs from within the Mercari app and asked, “What did you think that was?”

We focused first on testing whether people could intuitively understand what NFTs are just by seeing them.

@nobu：During the research phase, we also had extensive debates about whether it would be better to avoid using the term “NFT” altogether.

──Why avoid the term “NFT?”

@nobu：As @morochan mentioned, many users actually had no idea what NFTs were. We thought that using the term might confuse people as to what the service was.

We explored alternative service names using words like “digital” or “electronic” that would convey the concept of the service without using the word “NFT.” But even then, it was still difficult to describe the concept to those unfamiliar with NFTs. And conversely, to those familiar with NFTs, those alternative descriptions didn’t feel quite right. Finding a name that would work for both types of users was difficult.

@morochan：Taking into account the results of our UX research, in the end we deliberately chose the name Mercari NFT to both clarify the offering and associate it with Mercari’s brand.

──So even deciding the service name took quite a few takes. What other challenges were there in the planning phase?

@morochan：Defining the user persona of the buyers on Mercari NFT was another big challenge. Initially we focused on providing users with the value of being able to purchase NFTs on Mercari and in Japanese yen—a platform and currency that they’re used to—as opposed to having to figure out overseas services and crypto wallets.

@nobu：We surveyed Mercari users who had signed up for our cryptoasset transaction service regarding their interest in purchasing NFTs, with 18% responding positively. Of those users, 60% had never purchased an NFT before. This told us that there were potentially a lot of users who were interested in NFTs, but had no experience purchasing them.

With such a large and active user base, it would be a waste for Mercari to start this new business and target only crypto-native users. We decided it was necessary to broaden our focus to target curious first-timers as well. That’s why we’re currently targeting those who have never bought an NFT or used a crypto wallet with messaging like, “Buy NFTs with your Mercari account!”

Creating an experience of excitement and discovery

──So how did the design of the UI and user experience take shape?

@nobu：Through intense discussions (laughs). In addition to Mercari’s usual quality standards, we needed an NFT-specific spice—something extra to make it exciting. But the more we discussed, the more skepticism arose, and we struggled to lock down the final design.

──What turned things around?

@nobu：One day, we had everyone on the team look at hundreds of NFTs, choose the ones they liked, and explain why.

As we scrolled, we began to say things like, “This one’s cute!” and “I want to buy this one!” We realized that the key to Mercari NFT’s success would be cultivating an experience that wasn’t about searching and comparing alternatives, but a more visual experience akin to scrolling to discover things you like on social media.

@yuffy：As we put ourselves in the shoes of NFT buyers, we started to become aware of our preferences. Some of us liked animated NFTs, while others liked unique designs. That led us to consider how we could allow users to gradually refine their tastes as they browse.

──So the direction for the service became clearer as team members experienced the appeal of NFTs for themselves.

@nobu：Yes. Focusing on the aspects of “discovery” and “excitement” made our discussions much easier as well. Looking back, that was a big turning point for the direction of Mercari NFT.

──So from that point on, Mercari NFT focused on creating a sense of excitement and an experience of discovery.

@nobu：We initially tried to give the design the same feel as Mercari’s UI, but something wasn’t quite right. It’s hard to put in words, but replicating Mercari’s UI didn’t create the optimal discovery experience.

It was then that our CXO suggested we take a freer approach to design something that focuses on creating that experience of discovery. This gave us permission to break out of the existing mold and craft a UI that truly emphasized excitement and discovery.

Purchasing NFTs for the first time on Mercari

──After overcoming countless hurdles, Mercari NFT was finally released! What was the reaction post-launch?

@yuffy：Starting with the reaction of Mercari employees, it was great. We even saw people changing their Slack profile pictures to the NFTs they bought off Mercari NFT. We’d never seen such excitement after a service launch before.

Publicly, we saw lots of reactions on social media saying “Mercari is finally selling NFTs!” As mentioned earlier, we wanted Mercari NFT to provide opportunities to those interested in NFTs but unfamiliar with wallets and cryptocurrencies. After the release, we were really happy to see many people commenting that they had purchased NFTs for the first time thanks to the platform.

We also saw positive comments stating that services like Mercari NFT are essential to making NFTs accessible to more people.

──What kinds of NFTs are popular right now?

@yuffy：Because of the influence of anime and manga, Japanese-style designs are selling well in the Japan market.

On the other hand, some of the NFTs that I had my eye on haven’t been discovered by many users yet. There are still many more undiscovered treasures within Mercari NFT. We definitely have room to grow the discovery experience.

──What are the plans for expanding the service going forward?

@nobu：If Mercari is a marketplace for physical items, Mercari NFT will become a marketplace for digital items of all forms. What we’ve released is just the first step toward that vision.

@morochan：We’ve already added animated NFTs that can be set as user profile icons on Mercari. This allows users to express more of their personality on their Mercari accounts. It might be our job to continue offering more practical ways to use NFTs such as this.

@yuffy：As @nobu said, we’ve only just scratched the surface with digital items. We’re now starting to handle NFTs tied to real-world assets (RWAs) like trading cards, but there is still so much potential for digital products tied to sneakers, figurines, and even tickets.

We believe that controversial issues in areas such as ticket resales are things that Mercari can play a role in finding a solution for as well.

Photography : Wataru Suzuki / Original Article : Nana Naka / English Translation : Mercari Global Operations Team