Mercari is currently in the midst of a project to fundamentally reshape the experience of our marketplace app.

We have restructured our entire organization so that instead of traditional divisions focusing on demand (buyer experience) and supply (seller experience), we focus on three types of value—core CX, matching, and discovery. Leading the charge is Tomohiro Furusawa (@furufuru), the product head for the entire marketplace division.

How did the vision of “a marketplace that attracts first-timers and delivers a transaction experience beyond expectations” come to be, and where is it leading us? We got the inside scoop on the core CX that’s built to be safe, easy, and fun, and learned all about what’s coming next.

Restructuring the organization and creating the vision

— First, could you tell us about your current role and how you came to oversee the entire marketplace app?

@furufuru:  Back when I first joined Mercari, I was a data analyst doing engineering-type tasks. I started off working on the recommendations feature for the app’s home screen, and later made the switch to PM. As a PM, I led the discovery area, helping users discover and search for items. Recently, I was entrusted with the role of product head for the entire marketplace app. Our organization used to be structured around demand (the buyer experience) and supply (the seller experience), but around six months ago we shifted to looking at the overall marketplace experience as one.

— I heard that’s when the structure of the organization itself changed too.

@furufuru:  Yes. Instead of which users we serve, our organization is now structured around the kind of value we want to deliver. We’ve defined three types of value, specifically: core CX, matching, and discovery.

Core CX is the functionality that keeps users coming back to Mercari. It’s the foundation for long-term use—encompassing things like eliminating fraud and ensuring users enjoy their experience on the app.
Matching is one of Mercari’s most important value propositions—it ensures users can find what they search for and sell what they list.
Discovery is all about coming to Mercari and finding exactly what you want, browsing and getting inspired to list something yourself—it’s what makes people want to keep coming back to Mercari.

— I hear there’s also a brand new vision in place!

@furufuru: Now, our vision is to provide “a marketplace that attracts first-timers and delivers a transaction experience beyond expectations.”
When we say first-timers, we don’t just mean people using the Mercari app for the first time. We’re talking about all sorts of first-time experiences—from those of users who stopped using the app and are back for the first time in a while, to those of users making their first purchase in a category they’ve never bought from.

Defining core CX: Safe, easy, and fun

— Of the types of value you’ve defined, I understand you’re focusing especially on core CX.

@furufuru:  Yes. The goal of focusing on core CX is for people to continue using Mercari because they feel that it’s safe, easy, and fun! Those are the three elements we’ve broken down core CX into.

“Safe” refers to a state in which it’s unlikely for users to run into potentially fraudulent buyers, sellers, or items, and unlikely for incidents to occur. And just in case something does go wrong, having a system in place to fix it right away.

“Easy” refers to things like features that auto-fill listing information from just a single photo upload, or streamlined payment processes that make transactions a breeze. It’s all about creating fewer moments of friction for our users.

“Fun” honestly might be an area we haven’t focused on as much until now. This would be things that make communication more fun, like adding a bit of animation to the emojis used in transaction messages.

— Out of the three, which takes top priority?

@furufuru:  Safety, for sure. The priority we give to safety will never change. A business cannot function if it can’t guarantee safety, and I doubt users would feel compelled to use it either. No amount of fancy features or marketing can change that. That’s why safety is our baseline and starting point for everything.

Specific initiatives for safety and security

— When it comes to keeping things safe and secure, what specific initiatives are you working on?

@furufuru:  We’re working on safety and security from two main angles.

The first is to create a state where users do not encounter trouble or are less likely to encounter trouble while using Mercari. For example, our Trust and Safety (TnS) Team detects items that look like counterfeits, and in the worst case, we suspend the listings. We also make sure that potentially suspicious listings appear less in search results and recommendations.

The second is to ensure prompt resolution of any issues that do occur. Currently, our CS Team is not only working to shorten the time from inquiry to resolution, they’re also designing flows to make it easy for users to reach out when they need help, all with the goal of providing satisfying support for any issues.

— The Safe Appraisal feature is also part of this initiative, right?

@furufuru:  Exactly. With Safe Appraisal, users don’t have to worry about accidentally buying counterfeit items. It’s very difficult to even try setting up the Safe Appraisal feature if you’re listing a counterfeit item. This will make it less and less likely for counterfeit items to appear on Mercari.

But it doesn’t end with just releasing the Safe Appraisal feature. We need to think about how we can make all users aware of the feature, and how we can ensure a safe and secure experience for an even broader range of users. To do so, we work with the Marketing Team to launch big promotions, and make sure to connect with our users across a variety of screens—not just the listing screen, but the item details screen and more. The goal isn’t to simply add a new feature, but to have it fit into the overall user experience and ensure that people can feel safe using our service.

Commitment at the management level leads to significant change

— While working on this project, do you feel there are any significant differences between this project and other ones?

@furufuru:  Having our CEO’s commitment made all the difference in this project. Mercari declares its commitment to creating a safe and secure marketplace at the management level. The company made it crystal clear what we’re going to do—and we can count on it happening. Because of this, we didn’t have to spend time convincing anyone why the project matters—we could just focus on what needed to be done.

— I’m sure there were challenges along the way, too.

@furufuru:  Once something is declared important, everyone starts to take action on their own. In this case, people all got to work separately—sometimes on overlapping tasks—when it would’ve been better if we all combined our efforts.

That’s why I set out to ensure collaboration. Take the Safe Appraisal feature, for example. There’s only so much the feature release team can do on their own, but in collaboration with other teams they can launch marketing campaigns or have the feature appear on the item details screen and other screens across the app.  As we communicated with various people, we made sure to keep reconfirming what our ultimate goal was. That was quite challenging.

Measuring success: The best outcome is when nothing happens

— When it comes to safety and security initiatives, the absolute ideal state would be when nothing goes wrong in the first place. How do you measure that?

@furufuru:  There are two ways to measure this.
The first is a positive measure: people continue to use Mercari. If you have a bad experience on the app, you’ll probably stop using it. But if you have a good one, chances are you’ll be back to buy or sell again! We’re keeping an eye on whether fewer people are leaving.
The second is an indicator called the post-transaction inquiry rate. Inquiries come in because there are problems—so if those go down, it means we’re seeing more good transactions.
In addition, we’re also conducting brand image research, including looking into how Mercari is viewed on social media. While change may not be immediate, I believe it’s important to continue listening to user feedback and trusting that things will improve gradually.

— After the foundation of our core CX has been established, what area will we tackle next?

@furufuru:  There are two areas.

The first is matching. When a user hits search for shoes of a specific brand, they have all sorts of other needs behind the scenes—things like the item’s size, condition, and delivery speed. But users don’t verbalize those needs. We want to create a highly personalized experience in which users are shown exactly the items they want—without having to say the word—by leveraging the log data of day-to-day activity on Mercari.
We want to do the same for sellers too. Maybe you’re moving soon and want to sell your item quickly, even if it means lowering the price. Or maybe you want to sell your item at the best price possible and don’t mind waiting. We want to figure out how users want to sell—and create an ease of use in which users don’t have to explain their needs and feel that Mercari simply understands them.

The second is discovery. I think that right now people only open Mercari when they feel like buying something, or when they want to sell something to make a little cash. I want to turn Mercari into an app that people want to open every day—packed with interesting listings and useful info just for them!

— Will you also be leveraging AI?

@furufuru: Of course. But AI is only one means to an end. There may be users who want to use Mercari through AI, so we could provide that as an option, but we must also ensure the shopping experience on Mercari is easy even without going through AI. We need to craft the optimal experience across the app, browser, and AI.

Creating a platform where peace of mind is a given

— How do you collect and leverage user feedback?

@furufuru:  We use various methods. We’re always conducting user interviews, and we also keep an eye on quantitative data through feature testing, large-scale surveys, and social media monitoring. We’ve set up a system within our development team to be able to jump on urgent issues right away, and we’re always tuning into user feedback and working to improve the experience and consider our users’ requests.
What really matters is digging deep into the real issues behind user feedback and designing features that truly solve them. That’s what a PM should do every day.

— Lastly, could you share a few words about where Mercari is headed?

@furufuru:  First, we will achieve a baseline where users won’t run into issues using Mercari. We want users to feel safe and know that even if something does go wrong, it’ll get sorted out in a flash. Getting to that point is our goal for the next 6–12 months.

Upon that foundation, we want to build a comfortable marketplace experience where users can find exactly what they want without having to explain, sell anything with ease, and feel understood.