Online C2C market size in Japan FY 2016-2023

The consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce market in Japan was valued at around 2.4 trillion Japanese yen in 2023. The market, which includes both products and services offered by consumers online, expanded significantly in recent years, with online auctions and flea market platforms carrying the market growth.

Mobile flea markets in Japan

Flea markets are common events held in Japan, where temple grounds and parking lots serve as sales floors. With the gradual move to electronic commerce, major online retailers like Amazon, Rakuten, and Yahoo Shopping added virtual flea markets to their platforms. To keep up with the large user bases of market leaders, small startups joining the competition optimized their services for convenience and flexibility. The emerging competitor Mercari set up a mobile flea market directed at smartphone users, which tripled its gross merchandise volume in recent years, indicating the successful venture.

Domestic e-commerce market

The Japanese e-commerce market is a rapidly growing one, in which, however, consumer-initiated transactions are sidelined by business-initiated ones. While business-to-business (B2B) commerce dominates the market, business-to-consumer (B2C) retail shows the highest growth potential as less than ten percent of overall commercial transactions occur online. Recent trends include the growing popularity of online grocery stores, with food retailers expanding their distribution channels online.