Although one of the most interesting retail & technology conferences has come to a close, Shoptalk has left us much to ponder.  Taking a departure from the typical format, the three-day affair attracted more than 3,000 attendees from retailers to suppliers and scientist to venture capitalists.  The conversations that echoed throughout the expo hall and speaking sessions covered a broad spectrum of topics from the global retail discounting struggles to in-store interactive technologies, and shift towards experiential shopping to the convergence of humans and Artificial Intelligence in the retail world.

In attendance was AP’s National Retail Writer, Anne D’Innocenzio, who penned an amazing and insightful piece surrounding another major sentiment that permeated copious conversations throughout show – in an age of web buying, what is the future of physical retail locations?

As her four key takeaways, D’Innocenzio included:

• Store experience matters. As pointed by Retail industry expert Barbara Farfan, via About.com, when Macy’s announced to be closing more than 30 brick-and-mortar stores in the 2016, other long-term store closing plans were announced by retail chains like Office Depot, Walgreens, Aeropostale and The Gap. According to D’Innocenzio, although stores are “trimming their fleet,” brick-and-mortar is not dead. It’s up to other top players to find competitive ways to capitalize on their existing stores, as opposed to joining the rest of the industry and let them go.

• Stores as distribution centers could change the game. A function that was (again) mainly started by Macy's, shipping merchandise from the store to shoppers' homes has shown to be largely beneficial to retailers, especially when you consider delivery time and a cohesive experience across all channels. That said, this tactic requires being highly cognizant and nimbly responsive to fluctuations in inventory levels.

• Mainstream brands are losing their luster. Accoring to D’Innocenzio, “shoppers, particularly millennials, are losing their appetite for major brands that can be found everywhere, unless there's a strong emotional connection.” That hurts not only individual retailers like Nike or Lululemon, but also department store chains – as they dedicate a great deal of their space (site and real-estate) to mainstream brands. As you may already know, millennials (who, via RetailWire, spend $600 billion a year) are loyal to brands – but there is a catch. These consumers crave customization, seamless rewards programs and accurate attention towards their buying patterns.

• “Re-commerce” is a reality. More and more shoppers are reselling their clothes and other items online. A recent Business Insider piece listed a number of popular online platforms from which shoppers can resell their wardrobe. Each of the included apps are designed to appeal to specific types of re-commercer. Regardless of whether engaging with the platforms are a catalyst for people to make some extra money (as they declutter their closets and garages) or they are a response to higher demand of resale, one cannot ignore the fact that these consumers are now a potential competitive market share in the making.