It predicts that online grocery share will reach between 5% and 10% by 2022, fundamentally altering the typical store.

In large-format locations, grocers will have to dedicate space for click-and-collect counters and curbside pick-up, which will be an especially popular purchasing option in suburban and rural locations. More traditional grocery store formats and specialty players, especially in urban and more densely populated areas, will shift store space toward distribution uses and focus customer-facing space on higher-margin products and experiences, CBRE said.

The Omnichannel Experience

CCIM, as well, predicts growth in the online grocery sales, estimating that they will make up 20% of the total grocery retail sales—some $100 billion—by 2025, with grocery stores shrinking to a third or half their current size with a more limited, locally curated inventory.

A store's average sales area has contracted by 15% since 2010, CCIM reports. Looking ahead, the grocery stores of the future will be a third to a half the size they are today, it said.

Additionally, physical stores and e-commerce will become an increasingly connected omnichannel experience, and the role of the store itself will become more experiential, CCIM says.

"One future model attaches a 'dark store' to a smaller footprint store with 5,000 items (a typical grocery store currently has 45,000 items) from which basic commodity products will be picked and staged for pickup or delivery. This model is along the lines of what Kroger is experimenting with its partnership with Walgreens in its online fulfillment model."