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Tech to compete against a disruptive Amazon will continue to be central to the wholesale gifts play of 2019. But it isn't the only thing driving what will makes retailers’ tech shopping list.

While you can expect to see more holographic 3D images at malls and stores to wow you, these six trends from last week's National Retail Federation’s annual "Retail's Big Show" will have a more lasting impact.

More cloud-connected machines, part of the IoT (Internet of things) buzz, are coming to stores.

As Starbucks baristas gave out free samples at a makeshift coffee station inside a Microsoft booth, screens behind them displayed data like how many cups the machines had brewed. This arrangement was no coincidence: Starbucks has teamed up with Microsoft to connect its coffee and other machines to the cloud via Microsoft's Azure Sphere IoT system.

Why is this initiative relevant? When Starbucks introduces a drink recipe, it would now be able to remotely update all of its connected devices, a faster alternative to manually delivering a USB drive that's inserted into the machine hardware before a barista can make that new espresso drink, for instance, a Microsoft spokesperson said at the booth. Starbucks also can instantly track and aggregate sales and other data and see what’s popular with consumers when and where.

Yes, Amazon Go is about to change the way we shop.

Amazon Go has received generally very positive consumer feedback, as detailed in this article, forcing the rest of the industry to play catch up. At the Intel booth, for instance, a cashierless store concept and a smart vending machine the chip giant developed with China’s e-commerce retailer JD.com for that market were showcased. A JD.com spokesperson said the company traveled to the show with the intention to explore licensing its cashierless technology to U.S. and other wholesale distributors.

On shopping floors, drones join robots as new store employees.

2019 will continue to be the year when retailers seek to use technology to free store employees from menial tasks so they can spend time instead servicing customers. Retailers also want to use tech to help track what’s missing and misplaced on shelves and better keep inventory in stock. At the Intel booth for instance, Pensa Systems showcased drones that track store-shelf inventory for customers including beverage giant AB InBev.

“The retail shelf is like a black hole,” Pensa Systems president and CEO Richard Schwartz said.“There is no automation knowing what is on the shelve. We are trying to change that.”

Drones to track in-store shelve inventoryANDRIA CHENG

Meanwhile at Giant Food Stores, the supermarket chain this year will deploy a “googly-eyed” robot, which it named Marty, to all of its 172 stores after a successful pilot that had Marty inspect its floors to make sure there are no “hazards” like spills. “We want to free people to focus on customer engagement,” Nicholas Bertram, the chain's president, said at an NRF talk. "This is the largest deployment of robotics in supermarkets."

With increased online spending, delivering on experience when shoppers actually visit a brick-and-mortar store is more crucial than ever. Just ask Stacey Shulman, Intel retail solutions unit’s chief innovation officer: The question she told me she gets most from Intel’s retail customers? “What keeps my physical store relevant?”

Your local store shelves are getting digital, and it’s not just about cutting paper tag costs.

While more retailers are looking to turning their shelves digital to save the time and paper tag costs on traditional price promotions updates, Kroger is working with Microsoft to give its digital shelves more bells and whistles. At two Kroger test stores, the shelves will connect with Kroger’s scan-and-go shopping app to guide customers through their shopping list. They can also flash lights to give employees visual cues to help them pick and fulfill curbside delivery orders quickly. Kroger also plans to turn its shelves into digital advertising space for CPG brands.

Kroger, through its own Sunrise Technology unit, has said it also is seeking to license its in-house built digital shelf and other technologies to even fellow rival retailers.

“We want to commercialize to the retail world,” Peter Thelen, president of Kroger’s Sunrise Technologies, said in an interview. We are creating “automated platform to buy ad space on our shelves and working with CPG companies to reallocate their ad spending and help convert in-store spend with data.”

With Amazon—and fickle consumers—keeping retailers on their toes, thinking outside of the box for new growth opportunity will be the new industry norm.