Amazon’s critics were worried about the company’s growing power in retail before the coronavirus pandemic. It may be even more powerful by the time the crisis is over. 

There’s a credible argument that the shutdown of many retail stores, along with a general anxiety about going out in public, could end up increasing Amazon’s share of overall retail by prompting shoppers to buy more things over the internet. While other retail businesses have been forced to close their doors and lay off workers, Amazon said last week that it will hire 100,000 new employees to keep up with surging demand. “People are depending on us,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in an email to his company’s employees over the weekend. 

The role Amazon is playing in stocking peoples’ pantries, along with its hiring spree, is already buying the company some political goodwill. In the long run, though, an Amazon that emerges from the crisis with a bigger share of consumer spending is likely to face even louder calls for regulation.