NEW YORK – This week, Chain Store Age takes a look at three technologies that are likely to change the face of retail in the coming year: wearables, apps and drones.

Wearables – The much-hyped Apple Watch smartwatch, which will hit the market later this year and come equipped with functionality for the Apple Pay digital payment service, has dominated most of the wearable technology buzz in the retail industry. But Samsung and Google are also key players in wearable consumer digital devices. Chain Store Age’s Dan Berthiaume predicts that 2015 will be the year that consumers begin to integrate wearable connective technology more into their daily lives. Wearable devices can provide a new channel for targeted promotions, behavioral and location tracking and customer service.

Apps – Responsive design helps retailers easily optimize their e-commerce sites for the mobile channel, but native apps help retailers create specifically tailored mobile experiences. For example, writes Berthiaume, apps let retailers more easily offer features such as in-store navigation, location- and time-specific promotions and social shopping with friends. App use in general is exploding among consumers, and it is natural for apps to become a much more significant and disruptive influence in how consumers shop and engage with retailers.

Drones – While Amazon’s dramatic drone delivery plans are not likely to come to fruition this year, there’s no doubt that other retailers are going to start finding a variety of purposes for the technology. For instance, TGI Fridays recently launched a drone-based holiday promotion, with questionable results, opening the door for other retailers to use drones as promotional tools – think curbside pick-up.