This is an excellent video snippet with Declan Curry quizzing Amazon chief executive Brian McBride on news that the online retailer - which is estimated to have over 15% of the market share in selling books - has reported profits of $158m in the three months to the end of June, a rise of 102% - helped by DVD releases of hit tv series and the likes of the enw Cold Play album and the incredible volume of sales achieved by the release of Grand Theft Auto IV.

Lots of concepts linked to the brief discussion

Amazon’s buying power in the market - does Amazon get better wholesale prices from the publishers than others in the book trade? The long term shift towards online retailing and away from bricks and mortar The emphasis on huge sales volumes allied to low profit margins

In April Amazon opened a new 800,000 sq ft fulfilment centre in Swansea Bay which is the size of ten football pitches

This article links in - smaller bookstores are clubbing together to give themselves better buying power in a bid to compete with the online retailers and the supermarkets.