Amazon’s latest venture – to develop a book publishing operation in the UK – is yet another example of the online giant’s ability to think long term.

In a market where many retailers are struggling to think beyond the next quarterly rent payment, Amazon can continue to reshape how retailing works with clever and aggressive strategic moves.

The retailer is taking steps to set up its own publishing arm after it bought the US rights to the James Bond novels. It now plans to buy the rights of other archive titles and new books. Not only will it benefit from direct sales of these books, it will be able to get its products into other retailers’ stores, which means more sales and more influence.

“It’s a typical Trojan horse Amazon strategy,” says Lisa Byfield-Green, retail analyst at Planet Retail. “There was some backlash from stores in the US saying they wouldn’t stock books Amazon owns the rights to.

“When the revenues go to Amazon it is difficult for retailers to cope with the idea of it.”

The details at this stage are unclear, but if Amazon gets the rights to the next J K Rowling book, for instance, the repercussions could be significant – it will be impossible for retailers to refuse to sell Amazon’s books if they’re what customers want to buy.

So the move will not only enable Amazon to gain more market share by benefiting from the widespread sales of big titles, but its power over what other retailers stock will increase.

Plus, there’s always the possibility that Amazon will do the same in other categories – if the time is right, there’s nothing to stop it setting up a record company, for instance.

Byfield-Green says she wouldn’t rule out other ventures like this one. “It would involve a lot of investment but I wouldn’t rule it out. They’ve got the money behind them to invest in these things,” she says.

Retailers are no doubt watching Amazon carefully – its ability to effect structural change in the retail industry is undeniable, and the wisest retailers will be learning from Amazon’s long term approach.

And if a retailer’s capacity to invest strategically is limited, the next best option is to be ready to react quickly.