Startup Huckleberry digitizes and simplifies the complex process of purchasing and managing commercial insurance for small businesses via a user-friendly platform and AI-enabled matching feature. Replacing the traditional time-consuming insurance phone calls with an online portal, Huckleberry allows users to quickly fill a five-minute form, receive instant quotes, and seamlessly purchase desired plans. To ensure it meets all the needs required by a small enterprise, Huckleberry is built to work with a variety of coverage verticals from healthcare to beauty.

Big box retailer Walmart partnered with healthcare data analytics company Embold Health to launch Featured Providers, a benefits initiative that connects their employees with insurance plans and local doctors. Embold Health uses artificial intelligence to comb through data from public and private insurance and gathers a list of best providers, ensuring the optimal cost effectiveness and patient outcomes. Employees who choose a provider outside of the recommended list are required to pay more.

Helium is a free peer-to-peer network for IoT devices. Users plug the Helium Hotspot into a home network and set it up with their smartphone to provide wireless coverage to others and earn Helium tokens, a form of cryptocurrency, in exchange. The hotspot uses LongFi, which is a new technology delivering maximum range and battery life for devices on the network. A single hotspot reaches up to 200 times farther than regular wifi and requires minimal power to operate, enabling 50-100 hotspots to cover an entire city.

TOK APP is a blockchain-based multi-purpose peer-to-peer chat application built on Ethereum’s decentralized network. It allows users to chat securely and features a built-in cryptocurrency wallet to enable them to buy, sell and send tokens.

It's off to the races for 2020. Here's why everyone from retailers to content creators is betting on gaming to innovate their reach—and inspiration for how you can get in the game

b8ta's co-founder and president Phillip Raub speaks with PSFK ahead of appearing at our retail conference to discuss the RaaS store and software provider's evolution over the years, touching on its Forum fashion & lifestyle experience, reinvention of Toys"R"Us, and role in a new decade of retail

The luxury brand is pioneering the next gen of seamless store experiences by letting consumers opt in to a facial-recognition and data-storing program for hyper-personalized curation

Whether through added services, resale marketplaces or showrooms, brands are increasingly recognizing the imperative to make a P2P Play in order to enhance their overall customer experience and create more meaningful, long-lasting relationships with consumers

Seven shifts tracked by PSFK reports that will continue to drive retail, CX and shopper experience innovation over the next decade.

Solution provider AxleHire tells PSFK why delivery is one of the few areas where retailers can truly differentiate—and how his end-to-end platform helps enable last-mile service to drive clients' success

Furniture manufacturer Ikea Israel modifies its furniture to make it more accessible for people with disabilities to use. The company created thirteen designs to adapt bookcases, couches and more to accommodate disabled consumers. Accessible adjustments such as an easy handle, couch lift and friendly zipper are available for free online or 3D printing.

University NYU develops a smart dresser prototype to aid dementia patients in the process of getting dressed. The technology creates independence for people with dementia. Using a tablet, located on the top of a five drawer dresser, the display directs the wearer into how to dress. Lights guide the wearer into the next article of clothing to put on and simplifies the dressing process. Though, if the dresser runs into difficulties a caregiver can be notified for assistance.

Online retailer Zappos partnered with technology company Not Impossible Labs to create a unique musical experience for Deaf concert goers at the Life Is Beautiful concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. Vibrotextile technology turns music into vibrations, which allows the deaf person to feel the sounds rather than hear them. To create the full-body encompassing experience, the technology is attached to the body as a wearable chest harness, wristbands and ankle bands.

Australia’s Metromatics designs MetroSpec LCD bus displays with hearing loop and text to voice services to make transportation more inclusive to the visually and hearing impaired commuter. The bus displays also showcase real-time travel and passenger information to alleviate the qualms of traveling.