Waterstone's sets to rival the Amazon Kindle as it will launch an eReader next year.
The news comes from a BBC interview with Waterstone's MD James Daunt, who says the company takes inspiration from the Barnes and Noble Nook.
Daunt says the Waterstone's eReader is "well down the planning line."
The Amazon Kindle currently dominates the eReader landscape, with 35% EMEA 2010 market share according to IDC-- even if Amazon fails to release formal sales figures for the device.
Waterstone's will also allow customers to download ebooks from its 296 UK bookstores, like Barnes and Noble does in the US.