Google ties up with Barnes & Noble for same-day book delivery in US

Google, in an effort to keep up with online shopping rival Amazon, has tied up with Barnes & Noble to offer customers in major areas of the US delivery of book orders on the same day.

Starting on Thursday, book buyers in Manhattan, West Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area will be able to get same-day deliveries from local Barnes & Noble stores through Google Shopping Express, Google's fledgling online shopping and delivery service.

Amazon is a leader in same-day delivery, with warehouses of goods of all types situated near select urban delivery areas. Google is trying another strategy, partnering with major retailers to supply the goods and sending out local couriers to collect and deliver them.

Barnes & Noble joins Target, Whole Foods, Costco, Staples, Fry's, Walgreens, Toys R Us, Smart & Final, L'Occitane and Guitar Center as a Google Shopping Express supplier.

But commentators say B&N still won't be able to compete with Amazon, as books, including hard-cover and e-books, are much cheaper at Amazon.

Google Shopping Express is available in Santa Monica and other parts of West Los Angeles. For book delivery, it is using Barnes & Noble's store in Marina Del Rey. Another westside Barnes & Noble, in the Westside Pavilion, closed in 2011.

In March 2013, the search giant had announced Google Shopping Express, with a pilot scheme providing same-day delivery of food and other products bought online (See: Google to move into grocery delivery with Shopping Express).