What the Retail Industry Is Really Talking About: 4 Takeaways from Shoptalk Spring

Every year, Shoptalk brings together thousands of retail leaders, emerging brands, and technology innovators to talk about where the industry is heading. This year’s conference was squarely focused on AI; how it can expand what their teams are capable of, how it can solve long-standing challenges in merchandising, demand planning, and customer engagement, and how to move past the hype and into real impact. 

Our team made the trip to Las Vegas to meet with players across the retail landscape firsthand, and while AI was impossible to ignore, some of our most energizing conversations kept coming back to the same question: what’s actually happening in the real world? 

Here’s what stood out.

1. CPG Distribution and Demand Visibility Is the Conversation

If there was one theme that ran through nearly every meaningful conversation we had, it was that brands are dealing with shifting demand across channels and formats, and most don’t have a clear view of how that plays out in physical retail. In fact, many conversations kept coming back to a surprisingly common concern: brands not knowing whether they’re in the right places, reaching the right customers, or growing in the right direction.These are exactly the kinds of long-standing retail challenges that Dataplor is solving with better data and smarter tools. 

2. Brands Know Where They Sell, But Not If Those Are the Right Stores

This was the most common “aha moment” we saw on the floor. Brand after brand had solid sales data, but when it came to whether they were optimally distributed or how to make a compelling case to a retailer for expansion, the answer was essentially a gut feeling. One version of this came up repeatedly: “We know where we sell, but we don’t know if those are the right stores, or how to convince retailers to put our product in more locations.” That’s exactly the gap location intelligence fills. Instead of relying on static store lists or retailer conversations alone, teams can look at real-world foot traffic patterns and retail density to prioritize where to go next, and make a data-backed case when they get there.

3. Brick and Mortar Is Having a Quiet Resurgence

For a conference where AI was the headline act, physical retail held its own in a surprising way. In our one-on-ones, a renewed focus on brick and mortar repeatedly surfaced. Many of the brand-side buyers we spoke with were almost relieved to shift the conversation to physical retail strategy. It’s not that AI and digital don’t matter, but the physical world hasn’t gone anywhere, and teams are starting to feel the gap between their digital sophistication and their visibility into what’s actually happening in stores. That energy was hard to miss. Which brings us to our final point…

4. The Physical World Is the Missing Layer in the AI Conversation

A significant portion of the attendees we met represented the digital and e-commerce sides of their businesses. This points to something important: the brands that are winning aren’t thinking about online and offline as separate problems. AI is reshaping how retailers think about decisions, and those decisions require robust, quality, and comprehensive data. The brands we spoke with are increasingly looking for ways to ground their strategies in real-world behavior, not just digital signals. Understanding the physical landscape—where demand is moving, where products should live, where to expand next—is a critical input to any well-rounded retail strategy. Talk to us to learn more.