One aspect of this trend is the move to digital apps to offer high tech discounts. Retailers like Macy's and start-ups like Swirl are offering exclusive reductions to shoppers who sign up for their online couponing services.

Many retailers are also exploring a variety of cash- and credit card-free transactions that serve to smooth transactions, allowing salespeople to do what they do best: sell. A PayPal app, for example, connects shoppers with cashiers, so that a simple mobile phone buzz notifies shoppers that their transaction has been completed.

Other technologies pointing our cash-free future include e-wallets and even Bitcoins. Such high-tech payouts offer shoppers the benefit of skipping lines and streamlining their shopping trips.

The famous flat-pack home furnishings retailer IKEA is taking high-tech in-store shopping even further with an Augmented Reality app that allows shoppers to see what furniture will look like in their homes before they leave for the store.

"The high-tech trends we're seeing show the dramatic impact smart technology has on shopping, now and in the future" said Daniel Levine, who leads more than 8,000 trends-spotters on the popular trends website WikiTrend.org. "Rather than being threatened by online competitors, retailers are selling smarter, using technology to their advantage to offer shoppers better reasons to go to the store."

About Daniel LevineDaniel Levine is one of the world's best-known trends experts specializes in consumer trends across the industrial spectrum, including travel, food, technology, fashion, and more. Daniel is also a highly-sought after public speaker who informs and inspires audiences around the world to make trends work for them. His website is DanielLevine.com

For more information on Daniel Levine or on this trend, please contact Jeff Parrotte at Jeffrey.parrotte@avantguide.com.

Daniel Levine is a trends expert, public speaker, and consultant. He is the founder of The Avant-Guide Institute and the editor of WikiTrend.org.