Mercari restarted disciplined growth and delivered its first full-year profit

Mercari faced the pandemic as a marketplace still investing in Japan, the United States, and payments. Management first restrained investment under COVID uncertainty, then restarted disciplined marketing and product work as marketplace usage held up.

Its FY2021 filing says Mercari JP GMV reached ¥784.5 billion and MAU reached 19.54 million. Mercari US GMV reached ¥123.8 billion, up ¥50.1 billion year over year, after improvements in marketing, listing, and shipping.

The group posted revenue of ¥106.1 billion, up 39.1%, and operating profit of ¥5.18 billion after a ¥19.31 billion operating loss the prior year. The crisis year became the first full-year consolidated operating profit.

FY2021 revenue rose 39.1% to ¥106.1B and operating profit reached ¥5.2B after a ¥19.3B loss.

Mercari did not freeze growth spending permanently; it waited for marketplace signals, then resumed with discipline.

Japan and US marketplace improvements were paired with monetization changes such as US payment processing fees.

The company turned secondhand-market demand into operating leverage rather than only volume growth.

In a shock, pausing spend is only half the move; the edge comes from restarting investment when real user behavior is clear.

Mercari kept investing in marketplace personalization, shipping convenience, payments, and new businesses. The FY2021 profit did not remove future investment risk, but it proved the model could earn money at scale.