Brick-and-mortar retailers are increasingly implementing solutions like curb-side pick-up, to ensure safe distancing, while re-purposing their stores as fulfilment centers. Whole Foods converted stores in LA and NY to dark stores. In other industries, Bed Bath & Beyond  also plans to transition a quarter of its stores into regional fulfillment centers. Meanwhile, other incumbents are looking to partner with platforms to make quick moves when their internal transformation efforts are too slow.

Even as the large incumbents transform and the smaller incumbents partner with platforms, the ones in the middle may end up being the biggest losers. The real losers from the swing toward digital grocery shopping are likely to be the regional grocery chains such as Ingles Markets Inc. or Publix that have already suffered in recent years as customers have shifted their grocery dollars away from supermarkets to warehouse clubs, discounters such as Aldi or even Dollar General Corp. Smaller, traditional grocers simply don’t have the massive capital.