NEW YORK – Ever since Apple first announced plans for its new Apple Watch last fall, media outlets have been abuzz, theorizing about the device’s potential. Now that the Apple Watch has finally launched, those same outlets have a renewed mission in trying out every feature … and theorizing about those not yet incorporated. Last week, Chain Store Age addressed three ways that this latest innovation in wearable technology might disrupt customer engagement and the overall customer experience.

Small Screen, Big Challenge/Opportunity: Retailers have benefited from the growing screen size of smartphones, but the Apple Watch presents the opposite. Retailers won’t be able to implement traditional mobile commerce on a screen that small. However, this also provides an opportunity for retailers to think more broadly about the possible advantages: highly targeted marketing of a single message, for instance.

Getting (Extremely) Personal: Smartphones are personal devices, but the Apple Watch takes personalization to new levels. Users can record and send their heartbeat, and it also allows users to create personalized tap patterns to each other, which are felt as a buzzing on the watch. Retailers could hypothetically send customers targeted offers based on heartbeat analysis or notify busy consumers of discounts on certain items with a personalized tap message they don’t have to stop to look at.

Time Will Tell: Numerous retailers have already released Apple Watch apps, and many more will undoubtedly follow. While the latest iPhone 6 and Apple Pay have not yet reinvented retail the way some observers predicted — and Apple Watch most likely won’t either, for a while at least — it’s another step in the disruption of the retailer-consumer relationship, with more power held in the hands (or wrists) of the consumer.