People attend Shoptalk, a retail and technology conference in Las Vegas. If you weren't at Shoptalk in Las Vegas last week, you missed a great conference. Shoptalk has evolved into a must-attend retail event with more than 8,000 attendees and growing, a destination where retailers and brands go to learn and collaborate and where networking opportunities are key. The conference included content on the latest retail trends around technology, data, and wins and losses in the online vs brick-and-mortar battle. Here are my key takeaways from the conference.

Top executives from Target, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Alibaba and many other innovators shared their views on the future of commerce at the second annual Shoptalk, which drew more than 5,000 attendees. Simplification, the elimination of friction, the magic of mobile devices and the evolution of shopping were recurring themes through the first several days of Shoptalk. "Our members absolutely love Scan'n Go," Iannone said, explaining how it allows members to avoid the checkout line and simply show their mobile receipt as they exit the building. "It has helped drive frequency and sales and has been a really helpful innovation for us." As is the case at Sam's Club, Target Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell shared a retail world view that envisions the seamless integration of physical and digital.

There is no way to spell "retail" without AI. The power of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform the consumer journey dominated the conversation at Shoptalk this week. In its second year, Shoptalk brought together 5,000-plus players across the full ecosystem to better understand the continuous evolution of how consumers discover, browse and buy in the digital era. AI, which refers to technologies capable of performing tasks normally requiring human intelligence, goes back centuries. The idea of cognitive computing gained steam in the 1940s when Alan Turing suggested that a machine could simulate any conceivable act of mathematical deduction.

Picture shows IBM Watson robot on the third day of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2016. There is no way to spell "retail" without AI. The power of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform the consumer journey dominated the conversation at Shoptalk this week. In its second year, Shoptalk brought together 5,000-plus players across the full ecosystem to better understand the continuous evolution of how consumers discover, browse and buy in the digital era. AI, which refers to technologies capable of performing tasks normally requiring human intelligence, goes back centuries.