Is Sensis planning to move the Trading Post newspaper from a paid model to a free model?
Open any edition of the Trading Post weekly classifieds newspaper and you see them actively promoting their online offering. It makes sense given how much classified advertising has migrated online.
I know that in Victoria, sales of the Trading Post, at $3.00 each, continue to fall dramatically – 25% in the last year based on data I have seen from many retailers. Sales will reach a point that the retail presence is no longer viable.
This is why the Sensis experiment with the Trading Post in the Northern Territory is interesting. In NT, the Trading Post is handed out free – just like mX is handed out free daily in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
The Sensis investment in the NT experiment is considerable – they print an NT edition in Melbourne and ship to NT. There is nothing in this about building for retail sales of a print edition. The NT free edition pushes the website so the goals are clear.
If the NT experiment works I’d expect to see free distribution of the Trading Post elsewhere. They have to do something to keep the brand alive while they transition from print to online.
Maybe Trading Post will be the next free newspaper distributed in Australia. It makes sense and if I were a Telstra shareholder I’d be all for it.
I cant remember the last time they handed out free Trading posts up here but we sell approx 120 every week via the shop and subagents, they have in the past distributed them free to stimulate sales but not on a very regular basis