Trading Post Goes Online Only
October 2, 2009 by Emma Sorensen
Telstra, which is the owner of Australia’s iconic classifieds newspaper The Trading Post, has announced that the paper will soon cease to have a print version, and become online only.
A media release from the company says that nine out of ten Australians access the net weekly, with shopping an increasingly popular online pastime. This worldwide trend is also reflected in the classifieds industry as more and more customers use their computers or mobile phones to search, buy or sell products. tradingpost.com.au saw a 30 percent increase in advertisements over the past two years alone, with the flipside being what the company calls a “substantial decline in print advertisements”.
Telstra Media’s Head of Classifieds, Michael Padden, said:
“With print classifieds usage declining significantly across ad volumes, circulation and readership, it’s unviable to continue producing the weekly print publications. Trading Post and Telstra are well placed to capitalise on changing consumer preferences with Australia’s leading classifieds brand and leading integrated online and mobile digital media businesses.”
“It is an increasingly competitive market so Trading Post’s success as an organisation depends on making sound business decisions that set it up for the future.”
While The Trading Post is famous particularly for its auto classifieds, it lists everything from pets to home renovations.
Telstra’s Sensis division purchased The Trading Post in 2004. Its print version currently has about 469,000 readers a week while the website logs around 1.8 million unique visitors a month.
The Trading Post has been published for over 40 years. Like newspapers around the world it is clearly feeling the pinch as advertisers and consumers increasingly move online. Last November Schibsted Classifed Media decided to close down the print operations of its 30 year old Spanish classifieds newspaper, Segundamano, taking it solely online.
Around 280 people stand to lose their jobs when The Trading Post ceases print operations on 29 October 2009.
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[...] iconic Australian classifieds newspaper The Trading Post became an online only publication in October 2009, some saw it as the end of an era. But tradingpost.com.au hasn’t looked back, and [...]