Should Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) Take Google Inc (GOOGL) – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS) Express Book Delivery Seriously?

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has partnered with bookseller Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) in a move to revolutionize same day book delivery. Paul Kedrosky, Contributing Editor discussed this development with Emily Chang and Cory Johnson in Bloomberg’s technology and business oriented show Bloomberg West.

Google Inc (GOOG)

Paul Kedrosky was quite skeptical about same day book delivery. It was akin to offering same day delivery on CDs when there is an option to download digital music instantaneously.

“[…] I have to assume this is about using Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) shrinking balance sheet to help Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) run an experiment in same-day delivery that ultimately will have nothing to do with books”, he said.

This news follows closely on the heels of retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) announcing a major revamp to its online retail business. Kedrosky believed that Wal-Mart could be Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s greatest threat yet. While this might just be an experimental feature for Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), companies like Wal-Mart must not be ignored as they have a vested interest in the business from the beginning.

“[…] Amazon is increasingly moving away from digital products and moving towards physical products. […] Google is only going to go so far down the physical distribution business line. Wal-Mart, however, is there […] and those are the companies with the big balance sheets and have a vested interest in maintaining their business […],” he said, explaining his reasoning.

Meanwhile, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is steady in its development of Google Shopping Express. Though it has a limited stock compared to Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), there is still some hope left after looking at its list of retail partners, which include Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG), Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST), Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) and Toys R Us to name a few. The Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) same day book delivery service is currently restricted only to a few areas like West Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area and Manhattan.

Disclosure: none