14 DAY TRIAL // Google has decided to partner up with Barnes & Noble to launch a program that seeks to knock Amazon down a peg when it comes to book selling.
More specifically, the two companies are working together to offer same-day book delivery in Manhattan, San Francisco and West Lost Angeles via Google Shopping Express, the delivery services offered by the Internet giant.
Considering the news comes just a day after Amazon announced its expansion of the same-day delivery system in six new cities (Baltimore, Dallas, New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Indianapolis), this is a clear sign of a competition between the companies.
To make things even more interesting, it seems that Google has waived its $4.99 (€3.74) fee that is usually required for anyone who wants its product to be delivered on the same day.
“For us, we try to serve our customers how they want to be served. Customers like to read digital books and they like to read physical books. It's just a matter of preference,” Jamie Carey, Barnes & Noble chief merchandising officer, told Mashable.
The deal is supposed to help Barnes & Noble get back in business after closing over 60 stores in the past year alone and falling prey to the onslaught of price reductions and cheap delivery offered by Amazon.
Google is also getting something out of this because Amazon can be and has been a thorn in the company’s side by taking away from Google’s retail searches. In fact, many users have taken on the habit of searching Amazon for products, rather than looking at Google’s display offer.
It has recently even started testing a star-based rating system that looks oddly familiar if you ever leafed through Amazon.
However, Barnes & Nobel’s Carey says that, as a company, they don’t spend too much time thinking about Amazon, but rather think about serving customers. Of course, this is only a half-truth because it is difficult not to look over the fence and notice just how many books Amazon is selling and how its deals are hard to compete with.
A few years back, Microsoft also worked together with the book seller, trying to help it out a bit after Kindles started to become extremely popular. $300 million (€150 million) were invested in a joint venture related to the Nook e-book readers, the company’s response to the famous Kindle. Whether the tactic will pay off or not, it remains to be seen.