Comment: Competition hots up for Amazon

The launch of US bookseller Barnes & Noble’s Nook ereader in the UK this autumn will bring a welcome increase in competition in the ebooks market.

The Nook is to be sold through as yet undisclosed retail partners and Barnes & Noble will open its own online store.

Rival retailers are increasingly giving Amazon and its Kindle device a run for its money and some less obvious store groups are battling for a share of the ereader and ebooks market.

WHSmith, which was scheduled to issue a trading statement as Retail Week went to press, sells the Kobo device and is dedicating space to it in stores. When the retailer last updated it said the venture was in its early days, but there will be keen interest in its progress.

Grocer Sainsbury’s also wants a slice of the action. In June it bought a majority stake in Anobii, which enables people to share book reviews through social networking, as well as to buy ebooks.

Amazon’s innovations have changed the face of retail but the success of Barnes & Noble’s Nook in the US shows that others can still compete effectively. The same looks likely to happen on this side of the pond too.

A pound in the pocket

It might not match the feel-good factor of the Olympics, but there was a spark of optimism in Asda’s latest Income Tracker.

The July survey showed the largest increase in disposable income in more than two years. Before people get too excited, the rise was only £1, bringing the average household’s discretionary spend to £151 a week.

Asda boss Andy Clarke described the findings as “light at the end of the tunnel” for hard-pressed consumers but it remains too early to know whether it will now grow brighter or dim once again. Fuel price rises look likely, which would again pile pressure on consumer finances.

And, despite the uptick in July, consumers are still £8 a week worse off than they were two years ago.