Trading Post to accept ads from mobiles

Stuart Corner
Monday, 02 November 2009 07:30

Your IT - Home IT

Telstra is about to launch a service that will enable sellers to place advertisements on the tradingpost.com.au web site from their mobile phones.

Speaking at Telstra's investor day on 28 October, Justin Milne, group managing director of Telstra Media, said: "Shortly we will launch a complete mobile service. So you will be able to take a picture of your used jalopy with your phone, you will be able to place the ad, you will be able to pay for the ad, and then you will be able to see the ad and sell the car, all on a mobile phone, without having to go near a keyboard." He added: We think that is the future of classified businesses and we are moving really to get there."

Telstra finally killed of the ailing print version of the Trading Post on 29 October, just over six years after paying $636 million for the business. In this era of the Internet and online classified many were surprised it survived as long as it did. One reason often cited was that many of the Trading Post's core customers were not tech-savvy and reluctant to embrace the Internet and online buying and ad placement.

However they almost all have a mobile phone and if they can come to grips with mobile Internet this new service should cater for that community now that the print version is no more. Since December 2008 with the launch of Trading Post Mobile , they have been able to buy via their mobile phone from Tradingpost.com.au

Launching that service, the general manager of Sensis Mobile Amanda Brook, said: "It allows us to build a bridge between our print and online worlds enabling buyers and sellers to easily transition from traditional media to digital media and back again." Telstra promoted the service as being very easy to use and even provided an online video demonstration.

Commenting on the demise of the hard copy Trading Post, Milne said: "The truth is that Trading Post print is a dinosaur...Users are simply migrating to screens. It is more convenient, it is much more effective, it is more cost effective, you can search better faster, you can transact, you can do all kinds of things on screens."

He claimed: "We have been reasonably bold in moving early on that and I am extremely glad we have. Interestingly, our users are voting with their feet. The number of ads that we are placing on-line has increased dramatically since we just announced our migration."

Many believed this to be the situation in 2004 when Telstra bought Trading Post and when the then head of Sensis, Andrew Day, claimed: "Trading Post is a high growth company and a very strong business in its own right. It's on track to deliver solid revenue growth of around 15 percent in calendar year 2004, and has many opportunities for further growth through product enhancement, new publications, new territories and new online category web sites."