• The partial government shutdown over President Donald Trump's desired border-wall funding will last at least until December 27.
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell adjourned the Senate until Thursday, after lawmakers failed to reach a deal with the White House.
• Senior Trump administration officials also suggested to reporters on Saturday that the White House would not back down on the wall.

The partial government shutdown sparked by President Donald Trump's last-minute demand for $5 billion in funding for a US-Mexico border wall will likely last at least until December 27.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell adjourned the Senate until Thursday after announcing that lawmakers failed to reach a deal with the White House, which refused to back down on the border-wall funding.

McConnell took to the Senate floor earlier on Saturday to blame Democrats for the shutdown, though Trump said just days ago that he would accept responsibility and be "proud" to shut down the government.

"They've refused to meet President Trump halfway and provide even one-fifth of the resources for the border they were willing to provide just a few months ago," McConnell said.

Trump took to Twitter that afternoon to demand "a great Steel Barrier or Wall."

"I won an election, said to be one of the greatest of all time, based on getting out of endless & costly foreign wars & also based on Strong Borders which will keep our Country safe," he tweeted. "We fight for the borders of other countries but we won't fight for the borders of our own!"

The shutdown is the culmination of weeks of debate between Democrats and Trump over the border-wall funding. Here's how things broke down:

• December 6: Congress passes a short-term funding bill to delay the shutdown until after the date of President George H.W. Bush's funeral.
• December 11: Democratic leaders and President Donald Trump meet to discuss the funding deadline. Trump demands $5 billion in border-wall funding, Democrats counter with an offer of $1.6 billion in general border-security funding. Trump rejects the idea and offers to take the blame for the shutdown. The president says he would be "proud" to shut down the government.

Read more: Trump says 'Democrats now own the shutdown' just 10 days after declaring he was 'proud to shut down the government'

• December 19: The Senate passes a clean short-term funding bill, called a continuing resolution (CR), that does not include border-wall funding but will keep the government open until February 8. Trump supported the bill at the time, Senate GOP leaders said.
• December 20: Trump flip-flops on the clean CR after listening to attacks from conservative TV pundits and the hardline House Freedom Caucus, and he announces that he will not sign a bill with no wall funding. House Republicans then pass a CR that includes $5.7 billion in wall funds.
• December 21: Trump demands the Senate vote for the House version of the CR and tells Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to get rid of the legislative filibuster in order to pass the vote with only GOP lawmakers, but the idea is a nonstarter. The Senate votes down the House version of the bill, and the government moves closer to a shutdown at the midnight deadline.
• December 22: McConnell announces in the afternoon that lawmakers have not reached a deal, and adjourns the Senate until December 27. Senior Trump administration officials also suggested to reporters on Saturday that the White House would not back down on the wall, indicating that only Senate Democrats could end the shutdown by caving on the funding.

The shutdown does not affect the entire federal government since Congress already passed seven of the 12 major funding bills for next year. But the shutdown does impact a slew of agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Homeland Security, the Interior, State, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.

• Read more of Business Insider's coverage of the 2018 government shutdown:
• MERRY CHRISTMAS!: Government enters shutdown after Trump border-wall demands leave Congress in gridlock
• 'Mr. President, dig in': Lindsey Graham praises Trump's refusal to compromise over border wall funding even as the government shuts down
• White House budget chief instructs agencies 'to execute plans for an orderly shutdown' when funding expires
• Trump says he's 'prepared for a very long shutdown' after forcing border-wall money into the government-funding fight

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Anthony Scaramucci claims Trump isn't a nationalist: 'He likes saying that because it irks these intellectual elitists'

This is a preview of the Internet of Things (2018) research report from Business Insider Intelligence. To learn more about the IoT ecosystem, tech trends and industry forecasts, click here.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming how companies and consumers go about their days around the world. The technology that underlies this whole segment is evolving quickly, whether it’s the rapid rise of the Amazon Echo and voice assistants upending the consumer space, or growth of AI-powered analytics platforms for the enterprise market.

And Business Insider Intelligence is keeping its finger on the pulse of this ongoing revolution by conducting our second annual Global IoT Executive Survey, which provides us with critical insights on new developments within the IoT and explains how top-level perspectives are changing year-to-year. Our survey includes more than 400 responses from key executives around the world, including C-suite and director-level respondents.

Through this exclusive study and in-depth research into the field, Business Insider Intelligence details the components that make up the IoT ecosystem. We size the IoT market and use exclusive data to identify key trends in device installations and investment. And we profile the enterprise and consumer IoT segments individually, drilling down into the drivers and characteristics that are shaping each market.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• We project that there will be more than 55 billion IoT devices by 2025, up from about 9 billion in 2017.
• We forecast that there will be nearly $15 trillion in aggregate IoT investment between 2017 and 2025, with survey data showing that companies' plans to invest in IoT solutions are accelerating.
• The report highlights the opinions and experiences of IoT decision-makers on topics that include: drivers for adoption; major challenges and pain points; deployment and maturity of IoT implementations; investment in and utilization of devices; the decision-making process; and forward- looking plans.

In full, the report:

• Provides a primer on the basics of the IoT ecosystem.
• Offers forecasts for the IoT moving forward, and highlights areas of interest in the coming years.
• Looks at who is and is not adopting the IoT, and why.
• Highlights drivers and challenges facing companies that are implementing IoT solutions.

Join the conversation about this story »

The healthcare industry is facing disruption due to accelerating technological innovation and growing demand for improved delivery of healthcare and lower costs. Tech startups are leading the way by seizing opportunities in the areas of the industry that are most vulnerable to disruption, including genomics, pharmaceuticals, administration, clinical operations, and insurance.

Venture funds and businesses are taking notice of these startups' potential. In the US, digital health funding reached $1.6 billion in Q1 2018, according to Rock Health — the largest first quarter on record, surpassing the $1.4 billion in venture funding seen in Q1 2016. These high-potential startups provide a glimpse into the future of the healthcare space and demonstrate how we’ll get there.

In this report, a compilation of various notes, Business Insider Intelligence will look at the top startups disrupting US healthcare in four key areas: artificial intelligence (AI), digital therapeutics, health insurance, and genomics. Startups in this report were selected based on the funding they've received over the past year, notable investors, the products they offer, and leadership in their functional area.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• Tech startups are entering the market by applying the “Silicon Valley” approach. They're targeting shortcomings and legacy systems that are no longer efficient.
• AI is being applied across five areas of healthcare to improve clinical operation workflows, cut costs, and foster preventative medicine. These areas include administration, big data analysis, clinical decision support, remote patient monitoring, and care provision.
  
• Health tech startups, insurers, and drug makers are rapidly exploring new ways to apply digital therapeutics to the broader healthcare market that replace or complement the existing treatment of a disease.
• Health insurance startups are taking advantage of the consumerization of healthcare to threaten the status quo of legacy players. 
• Genomics is becoming an increasingly common tool within the healthcare system as health organizations better understand how to extract the value from patients’ genetic data. 

 In full, the report:

• Details the areas of the US health industry that show the greatest potential for disruption.
• Forecasts the industry adoption of bleeding edge technology and how it will transform how healthcare organizations operate.
• Unveils the top five startups in AI, digital therapeutics, health insurance, and genomics, and how they're positioned to solve big issues that key players in healthcare face. 
• Explores what's next for the leading startups, providing a glimpse into the future of the healthcare space and demonstrating how we’ll get there.

Subscribe to an All-Access pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to:

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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

The gift-giving season is upon us.

Here to help you choose the perfect gifts for everyone on your list, from your coworkers to your dad, or the person you pulled for a White Elephant gift exchange, are the editors and reporters from the Insider Picks team.

If you need some inspiration for what to get for her this holiday season (whether she's your sister, mom, daughter, wife, or otherwise), we have you covered with some truly excellent gift ideas. Though you can never go wrong with a new leather wallet or festive, holiday-themed beauty gift set, we've also included some more unique gifts, like a custom map poster and a book about everything "Friends" in our list.

Check out all 64 gifts for her, and happy shopping!

Most of these items are available with expedited shipping, and some should arrive within a few days' time, so don't stress too hard about your last-minute shopping — just remember that the sooner you order, the better your chances of a timely arrival.

Looking for more gift ideas? Check out all of Insider Picks' holiday gift guides for 2018 here.

SEE ALSO: All of Insider Picks' holiday gift guides, in one place

DON'T MISS: 55 creative and unexpected gifts for her that are all under $50

A stylish and comfortable pair of shoes

Allbirds Wool Loungers, available at Allbirds, $95 (9 colors)

Popular shoe startup Allbirds came out with a new high-top sneaker this month, dubbed the Tree Toppers, but for the uninitiated (and honestly really anyone), the classic Wool Loungers make an excellent gift. 

The Amazon Echo Spot

Amazon Echo, available at Amazon, $69.99 (6 colors)

The Echo is the perfect addition to her nightstand or countertop. It uses Alexa to accomplish any number of tasks, from answering questions to reordering supplies on Amazon. 

A reusable bag that comes in dozens of fun prints

Standard Baggu, available at Amazon, $9 (29 colors)

You can never have too many reusable bags, especially when they're as cute as the ones Baggu makes. The Standard Baggu is design to hold 50 pounds and folds into a flat 5-inch by 5-inch pouch for easy storage in her purse. 

The transportation and logistics industry is undergoing a massive shift as a result of surging deliveries. Daily parcel volumes are higher than ever before — but so are customers’ expectations for cheap and fast fulfillment. 

To keep up with mounting demand, retailers and their logistics partners have been racing to develop more efficient processes with experimental supply chain models like crowdsourced delivery — the Uber model in which customers use mobile apps to connect directly with local couriers for on-demand or same-day fulfillment.

And it’s not just startups like Deliv and Postmates getting in on the action. This year Amazon not only launched its own shipping service to deliver packages for other businesses (“Shipping with Amazon”) but also announced its “Delivery Service Partner” program, which provides capital incentives for people to launch their own delivery companies fulfilling orders on behalf of Amazon itself.

With emerging delivery models like these aggressively stealing away customers, the pressure is on for legacy players like FedEx, UPS, the USPS, and the thousands of businesses who depend on them every day, to respond. But it will take more than just material resources or a large fleet of vehicles to truly compete. These companies need to earn the trust of consumers.

Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has obtained exclusive survey data to paint the 2018 delivery landscape and the trends of its major players. The findings comprise the team’s latest Enterprise Edge Report, The 2018 Delivery Trust Report, and give transportation, supply chain, and logistics companies the tools they’ll need to win back customers.

Enterprise Edge Reports are the very best research Business Insider Intelligence has to offer in terms of actionable recommendations and proprietary data, and they are only available to Enterprise clients.

In full, the study:

• Uses proprietary consumer survey data to evaluate how the largest delivery companies in the US stack up on customer service, package tracking, package protection, and timeliness of delivery.
• Assesses how at risk these providers are to new challengers entering the space.
• Shares strategies on how delivery companies can achieve feature parity and, ideally, differentiation, in customer experience.

So, which delivery features do consumers care about?

First and foremost, speed. It makes sense that consumers value fast delivery, but did you know just how many of them prioritize this feature? According to a recent survey from Dropoff, it’s 99%. And with millions of packages delivered nationwide every single day, that’s a lot customers with high expectations.

But customers don’t just want their packages delivered quickly; they want to follow the journey from store to doorstep. Another one of the most important offerings delivery companies boast is real-time tracking, with nearly 90% of consumers noting it in the Dropoff survey.

If they can get it right, tracking is a twofold advantage for delivery companies; it entices consumers who want to know when their packages are coming, and it appeals to merchant partners who might be willing to switch delivery service providers for the added visibility and customer benefit.

And the field is still wide open for companies to differentiate on this feature. Among those who had a package delivered from UPS, FedEx, USPS, or DHL in the last year, nearly 30% of Business Insider Intelligence survey respondents couldn't actually say which company offered the best tracking features. Whether it means using mobile apps, SMS texting, or chatbots to communicate with customers, there’s plenty of opportunity for logistics companies to hone and become known for this feature.

Want to learn more?

This is just a snapshot of the Business Insider Intelligence 2018 Delivery Trust Report, which compiles the complete survey findings to dive deeper into the opportunities delivery companies have to engage and delight customers.

The multi-part report also presents actionable insights that transportation and logistics companies can use to fight back against Amazon’s continuous push into deliveries.

Join the conversation about this story »

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here.

What is eSports? History & Rise of Video Game Tournaments

Years ago, eSports was a community of video gamers who would gather at conventions to play Counter Strike, Call of Duty, or League of Legends.

These multiplayer video game competitions would determine League of Legends champions, the greatest shooters in Call of Duty, the cream of the crop of Street Fighter players, the elite Dota 2 competitors, and more.

But today, as the history of eSports continue to unfold, media giants such as ESPN and Turner are broadcasting eSports tournaments and competitions. And in 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch, the live streaming video platform that has been and continues to be the leader in online gaming broadcasts. And YouTube also wanted to jump on the live streaming gaming community with the creation of YouTube Gaming.

eSports Market Growth Booming

To put in perspective how big eSports is becoming, a Google search for "lol" does not produce "laughing out loud" as the top result. Instead, it points to League of Legends, one of the most popular competitive games in existence. The game has spawned a worldwide community called the League of Legends Championship Series, more commonly known as LCS or LOL eSports.

What started as friends gathering in each other's homes to host LAN parties and play into the night has become an official network of pro gaming tournaments and leagues with legitimate teams, some of which are even sponsored and have international reach. Organizations such as Denial, AHQ, and MLG have multiple eSports leagues.

And to really understand the scope of all this, consider that the prize pool for the latest Dota 2 tournament was more than $20 million.

Websites even exist for eSports live scores to let people track the competitions in real time if they are unable to watch. There are even fantasy eSports leagues similar to fantasy football, along with the large and growing scene of eSports betting and gambling.

So it's understandable why traditional media companies would want to capitalize on this growing trend just before it floods into the mainstream. Approximately 300 million people worldwide tune in to eSports today, and that number is growing rapidly. By 2020, that number will be closer to 500 million.

eSports Industry Analysis - The Future of the Competitive Gaming Market

Financial institutions are starting to take notice. Goldman Sachs valued eSports at $500 million in 2016 and expects the market will grow at 22% annually compounded over the next three years into a more than $1 billion opportunity.

And industry statistics are already backing this valuation and demonstrating the potential for massive earnings. To illustrate the market value, market growth, and potential earnings for eSports, consider Swedish media company Modern Times Group's $87 million acquisition of Turtle Entertainment, the holding company for ESL. YouTube has made its biggest eSports investment to date by signing a multiyear broadcasting deal with Faceit to stream the latter's Esports Championship Series. And the NBA will launch its own eSports league in 2018.

Of course, as with any growing phenomenon, the question becomes: How do advertisers capitalize? This is especially tricky for eSports because of its audience demographics, which is young, passionate, male-dominated, and digital-first. They live online and on social media, are avid ad-blockers, and don't watch traditional TV or respond to conventional advertising.

So what will the future of eSports look like? How high can it climb? Could it reach the mainstream popularity of baseball or football? How will advertisers be able to reach an audience that does its best to shield itself from advertising?

Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled an unparalleled report on the eSports ecosystem that dissects the growing market for competitive gaming. This comprehensive, industry-defining report contains more than 30 charts and figures that forecast audience growth, average revenue per user, and revenue growth.

Companies and organizations mentioned in the report include: NFL, NBA, English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, NHL, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1, Ligue de Football, Twitch, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, ESPN, Electronic Arts, EA Sports, Valve, Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, ESL, Turtle Entertainment, Dreamhack, Modern Times Group, Turner Broadcasting, TBS Network, Vivendi, Canal Plus, Dailymotion, Disney, BAMTech, Intel, Coca Cola, Red Bull, HTC, Mikonet

Here are some eSports industry facts and statistics from the report:

• eSports is a still nascent industry filled with commercial opportunity.
• There are a variety of revenue streams that companies can tap into.
• The market is presently undervalued and has significant room to grow.
• The dynamism of this market distinguishes it from traditional sports.
• The audience is high-value and global, and its numbers are rising.
• Brands can prosper in eSports by following the appropriate game plan.
• Game publishers approach their Esport ecosystems in different ways.  
• Successful esport games are comprised of the same basic ingredients.
• Digital streaming platforms are spearheading the popularity of eSports.
• Legacy media are investing into eSports, and seeing encouraging results.
• Traditional sports franchises have a clear opportunity to seize in eSports.
• Virtual and augmented reality firms also stand to benefit from eSports.  

In full, the report illuminates the business of eSports from four angles:

• The gaming nucleus of eSports, including an overview of popular esport genres and games; the influence of game publishers, and the spectrum of strategies they adopt toward their respective esport scenes; the role of eSports event producers and the tournaments they operate.
• The eSports audience profile, its size, global reach, and demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes; the underlying factors driving its growth; why they are an attractive target for brands and broadcasters; and the significant audience and commercial crossover with traditional sports.
• eSports media broadcasters, including digital avant-garde like Twitch and YouTube, newer digital entrants like Facebook and traditional media outlets like Turner’s TBS Network, ESPN, and Canal Plus; their strategies and successes in this space; and the virtual reality opportunity.
• eSports market economics, with a market sizing, growth forecasts, and regional analyses; an evaluation of the eSports spectacle and its revenue generators, some of which are idiosyncratic to this industry; strategic planning for brand marketers, with case studies; and an exploration of the infinite dynamism and immense potential of the eSports economy.

Subscribe to an All-Access pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to:

	This report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports
	Access to all future reports and daily newsletters
	Forecasts of new and emerging technologies in your industry
	And more!

Learn More

Purchase & download the full report from our research store

Join the conversation about this story »

• On a call with reporters on Saturday, White House officials said President Donald Trump still plans on having Mexico pay for a wall along the US-Mexico border.
• The statement comes on the first day of a partial shutdown of the federal government, after Congress adjourned without agreeing on a spending deal.
• Trump has promised that Mexico would pay for the wall's construction since the early days of his presidential campaign, but has gradually begun changing the details of a hypothetical arrangement. 

Senior Trump administration officials said Saturday that the president still plans on having Mexico pay for a wall along the US-Mexico border.

The statement comes on the first day of a partial shutdown of the federal government, after Congress adjourned until December 27 without agreeing on a spending deal.

President Donald Trump made a last-minute decision in recent days to demand that Congress allocated $5 billion for the wall, despite years of promises that Mexico would foot the bill.

"Our administration continues to believe that [Mexico] will [pay for the wall]," a senior administration official said told reporters on a background call about the shutdown. "This debate is about ensuring that we have the appropriations to get the wall built."

The official said the US planned to initially bear the wall's construction costs so there would be no "wait on negotiations with Mexico," and the administration would "be able to move on constructing the wall."

The official continued: "What this debate is is fundamentally about getting started."

Read more: Trump tweeted a design for 'steel slats' along the border with spikes on top — and called it 'totally effective while at the same time beautiful'

Senate Democrats have frequently seized on the Trump administration's promises that Mexico would pay as evidence that Congress shouldn't have to supply the funding. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Saturday that the shutdown occurred "because of one person and one person alone — President Trump."

He continued: "We arrived at this moment because the president has been on a destructive two-week temper tantrum demanding the American taxpayer pony up for an expensive, ineffective border wall that the president promised Mexico would pay for."

Trump's latest pitch for Mexico's responsibility for the wall came in a tweet Wednesday, where he connected the wall's cost to the newest North American trade pact, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Though the USMCA was signed by the countries' leaders last month, it hasn't yet been ratified by Congress, or Mexico or Canada's legislative bodies.

When White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about the deal last week, she said the administration thought that more than $25 billion would flow into the Treasury, though she didn't elaborate on the calculation.

Trump has promised since his election that Mexico would pay

"I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively," Trump said in his June 2015 presidential announcement speech. "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and I’ll have Mexico pay for that wall."

The Mexican government has repeatedly said the country will not pay for the wall.

By January 2017, Trump had pared back his plan to a version closer to his current pitch, saying Mexico would pay back the cost of construction for "the Great Wall."

During the campaign, Trump estimated the wall would cost between $8 billion and $12 billion to build.

But on January 8, 2018, the Trump administration was expected to request $18 billion from Congress for the wall. Two weeks later, Trump introduced a new immigration bill that included a request for $25 billion towards the wall.

Amid these proposals, Trump also tweeted that the wall would cost $20 billion.

More recently, Trump has fallen back on the argument that the wall would essentially pay for itself through the increased economic output stemming from the USMCA. He has doubled down on that claim multiple times in recent weeks.

In a fiery White House meeting between Trump and top Democrats on December 11, House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed Trump's suggestion that the USMCA's benefits would make up for the wall funding.

Business Insider's Bob Bryan reported that Pelosi later told Democrats that she told Trump that dedicating money to a wall would still mean Americans were losing out on the benefits.

"I said, 'You're going to take the money we made from the trade agreement. Well that's an opportunity cost, Mr. President, for American workers and our economy that's supposed to benefit from that. They did not know you are passing a bill so that you could pay for a wall and say Mexico paid for it with our profits from our workers and our businesses and the rest,'" Pelosi reportedly said.

• Read more of Business Insider's coverage of the 2018 government shutdown:
• The government shutdown over Trump's border wall demands will last at least through Christmas
• 'Mr. President, dig in': Lindsey Graham praises Trump's refusal to compromise over border wall funding even as the government shuts down
• White House budget chief instructs agencies 'to execute plans for an orderly shutdown' when funding expires
• Trump says he's 'prepared for a very long shutdown' after forcing border-wall money into the government-funding fight

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Anthony Scaramucci claims Trump isn't a nationalist: 'He likes saying that because it irks these intellectual elitists'

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here. Current subscribers can read the report here.

Esports, which is short for electronic sports, refers to competitive video gaming watched by spectators. Esports are not as mainstream as traditional sports in the US, but the number of esports fans globally is still sizable. The worldwide esports audience reached 335 million in 2017, according to Newzoo. 

And there’s still significant room for growth beyond that — we predict that 600 million consumers globally will watch esports in 2023, up 79% from 2017. 

A growing number of brands are acting to capitalize on the growth of esports as the majority of professional gaming fans are millennials and open to brand sponsors. Sixty-two percent of US esports viewers are aged 18-34, according to Activate, while 58% have a positive attitude towards brand involvement in esports, per Nielsen.

Meanwhile, Newzoo anticipates global esports sponsorship revenue to reach $359 million in 2018, up 53% year-over-year. The growing esports audience and brand activity helps explains why high-profile public figures are jumping in to capitalize on the action: In late October, basketball legend Michael Jordan and platinum-selling artist Drake both made investments into separate esports ventures, for example. 

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence will explain the growth of the esports audience and why it presents an attractive advertising opportunity for brands. We'll begin by exploring the key drivers and barriers affecting esports audience growth. Finally, we'll detail the benefits of advertising to esports fans and outline the best practices for implementing a successful esports ad campaign.

The companies mentioned in this report are: Alibaba, Arby's, Audi, Bud Light, Hyundai, Intel, Mastercard, McDonald's, Red Bull, Skillz, and Turner.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• The number of esports fans globally is anticipated to climb 59% over the next five years, but there’s still significant room for growth.
• This expansion will be driven by many factors, including investment from traditional sports leagues, a higher number of broadcast deals, and the expansion of the mobile-based esports scene.
• The majority of esports fans are millennials, while data suggests that Gen Zers are more receptive to nontraditional sports, like esports, than traditional sports.
• Brands can sponsor esports leagues, competitions, and players as well as advertise on digital platforms like Twitch to reach the eyeballs of esports fans.
• Whatever shape a brand's esports ad campaign eventually takes, displaying an authentic commitment to the gaming world is paramount.

 In full, the report:

• Outlines the drivers and potential barriers to esports audience growth.
• Details the various reasons esports fans are a compelling advertising opportunity for brands.
• Discusses the different ways brands can invest spend to reach the eyeballs of esports fans.
• Explains best practices brands advertising to esports fans should adopt in order to make inroads with the gaming community. 

SEE ALSO: The eSports competitive video gaming market continues to grow revenues & attract investors

Join the conversation about this story »

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

When it comes to gift swapping games like White Elephant, Yankee Swap, or Nasty Christmas, the master gifters must first forget everything they know about holiday gifting.

Gone are the cashmere scarves, Belgian chocolates, and those porcelain baby angel figurines Aunt Sharon collects. In their place, Ron Swanson's Pyramid of Greatness, cookbooks punctuated by expletives, life-size cardboard cut-outs of your face, and door stoppers with "HODOR" emblazoned upon them. 

Gift swaps reward the niche, novel, and irreverent, with bonus points going to those who can check the boxes of funny and useful. So, below, we rounded up 55 last-minute gifts that are perfectly primed for this occasion, and, admittedly, perhaps no other.

Most of these items are available with expedited shipping, and some should arrive within a few days' time, so don't stress too hard about your last-minute shopping — just remember that the sooner you order, the better your chances of a timely arrival.

SEE ALSO: All of Insider Picks' holiday gift guides, in one place

DON'T MISS: 25 creative and unexpected gifts for 'Star Wars' fans of all ages

A parody cookbook

Fifty Shades of Chicken: A Parody in a Cookbook, available on Amazon, $14.05

Useful, funny, unexpected, and — dare we say it — provocative ... this spoof cookbook is one of the best conversation starters and White Elephant gifts under $15 you're likely to find. 

A funny meme-inspired card game for adults

What Do You Meme Game, available on Uncommon Goods and Amazon, $30

What Do You Meme is the second wave of whatever Cards Against Humanity was — and it's really fun. The game is currently backordered on Uncommon Goods until December 27, so order from Amazon if your exchange is before Christmas. 

A 2019 calendar celebrating only the cringe-worthy awkwardness of timeless family photos

Awkward Family Photos 2019 Day-to-Day Calendar, available on Amazon, $13.49

Matching outfits, terrible stage direction, and a collection of 365 photos that will make you recoil in either recognition or secondhand embarrassment.

This is a preview of a research report fromBusiness Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence,click here. Current subscribers can read the reporthere.

Virtual reality (VR) offers immersive experiences in which users can hear, see, and interact with 360-degree digital environments using head-mounted displays (HMDs) and handheld motion devices. The technology has been historically associated with consumer-facing gaming, but it’s been gaining traction in the enterprise over the past year.

In fact, companies such as Macy’s, Lowe’s, Walmart, and UPS, among others, have all launched new VR programs since 2017. And as more businesses look to tap the technology, this will drive enterprise VR hardware and software revenue to jump 587% to $5.5 billion in 2023, up from an estimated $800 million in 2018, according to Business Insider Intelligence estimates.

This shows that retailers and brands should look into implementing VR as early as possible to better compete with other industry players who’ve started to use the tech, especially in three key areas: sales, employee training, and product development. All of the companies mentioned above are using VR to in at least one of these areas, enabling them to increase product sales, reduce product design costs, or speed up employee training processes, for instance.

In the VR In The Enterprise report, Business Insider Intelligence explores how VR can provide value to retailers and brands in three areas: sales, employee training, and product development.

The report begins by discussing potential pain points the technology addresses for each use case, examining in-depth case studies to illustrate how companies have implemented the technology, and outlining the broader takeaways each use case presents for brands and retailers.

Finally, it looks at some of the potential barriers to further enterprise adoption and how both companies and VR incumbents are actively addressing those obstacles.

The companies mentioned in the report are: Audi, Lowe's, Macy's, McLaren Automotive, Walmart, and UPS, among others.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• VR enables consumers in brick-and-mortar stores to make more informed purchases, which could increase sales conversion rates.
• Brands and retailers looking to ramp up their employees quicker should consider bringing VR into their training processes.
• The tech can shorten brands' and retailers' product development life cycles by cutting down on the time associated with building expensive physical prototypes.

In full, the report:

• Identifies key VR vendors and device form factors for businesses to consider.
• Discusses key benefits the tech brings businesses for their sales, training, and product development processes.
• Illustrates those key benefits by discussing real-world case studies from companies and the takeaways from those implementations.

SEE ALSO: When it comes to VR hardware, consumers are balancing price point and experience

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• Digital trust is the confidence people have in a platform to protect their information and provide a safe environment for them to create and engage with content.
• Business Insider Intelligence surveyed over 1,300 global consumers to evaluate their perception of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
• Consumers’ Digital Trust rankings differ across security, legitimacy, community, user experience, shareability, and relevance for the six major social networks.

If you feel like “fake news” and spammy social media feeds dominate your Internet experience, you’re not alone. Digital trust, the confidence people have in platforms to protect their information and provide a safe environment to create and engage with content, is in jeopardy.

In fact, in a new Business Insider Intelligence survey of more than 1,300 global consumers, over half (54%) said that fake news and scams were "extremely impactful” or “very impactful” on their decision to engage with ads and sponsored content.

For businesses, this distrust has financial ramifications. It’s no longer enough to craft a strong message; brands, marketers, and social platforms need to focus their energy on getting it to consumers in an environment where they are most receptive. When brands reach consumers on platforms that they trust, they enhance their credibility and increase the likelihood of receiving positive audience engagement.

The Digital Trust Report 2018, the latest Enterprise Edge Report from Business Insider Intelligence, compiles this exclusive survey data to analyze consumer perceptions of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

The survey breaks down consumers’ perceptions of social media across six pillars of trust: security, legitimacy, community, user experience, shareability, and relevance. The results? LinkedIn ran away with it.

As the most trusted platform for the second year in a row – and an outlier in the overall survey results – LinkedIn took the top spot for nearly every pillar of trust — and there are a few reasons why:

• LinkedIn continues to benefit from the professional nature of its community — users on the platform tend to be well behaved and have less personal information at risk, which makes for a more trusting environment.
• LinkedIn users are likely more selective and mindful about engagement when interacting within their professional network, which may increase trust in its content.
• Content on LinkedIn is typically published by career-minded individuals and organizations seeking to promote professional interests, and is therefore seen as higher quality than other platforms’. This bodes well for advertisers and publishers to be viewed as forthright, honest, persuasive, and trustworthy.

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Enterprise Edge Reports are the very best research Business Insider Intelligence has to offer in terms of actionable recommendations and proprietary data, and they are only available to Enterprise clients.

The Digital Trust Report 2018 illustrates how social platforms have been on a roller coaster ride of data, user privacy, and brand safety scandals since our first installment of the report in 2017.

In full, the report analyzes key changes in rankings from 2017, identifies trends in millennials' behavior on social media, and highlights where these platforms (as well as advertisers) have opportunities to capture their attention.

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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Unless you won the lottery or lost a bet, not everyone in your life is expecting a brand new car from you for the holidays.

And for the many instances in which it's better to give a small gift, most of us would love to give something that's both inexpensive and impactful — more than just a token space filler in a stocking. For that, you'll probably have the best luck on Amazon. It's home to a ton of great, affordable products people actually want, and you get the added perks of easy, fast shipping and prices that are nearly always the lowest on the internet. 

The trade-off is that you need to be willing to invest the time, eye strain, and concentration wrinkles necessary for going through 30+ pages of product results. To save you the time, we curated a few of our all-time favorites and other great products from a wide range of interests below.  

If you're looking for something even more budget-friendly, we also have 30+ stocking stuffers you can get for under $10 here. 

Most of these items are available with two-day shipping if you have Amazon Prime, so don't stress too hard about your last-minute shopping — just remember that the sooner you order, the better your chances of a timely arrival.

Below, you'll find 50 of the best stocking stuffers you can find on Amazon for under $20.

Looking for more gift ideas? Check out all of Insider Picks' holiday gift guides for 2018 here.

SEE ALSO: All of Insider Picks' holiday gift guides, in one place

DON'T MISS: 33 unique and interesting last-minute gifts you didn't know you could get on Amazon

A mini, functional waffle maker that takes up minimal countertop space

Dash Mini Waffle Maker, $8.99

This small but mighty waffle maker looks more like a gag gift than a functional one, but they'll be surprised by how often they end up using it. It takes up minimal counter and storage space, is easy to clean, and is perfect for when you're craving just one or two waffles and don't want to make a whole spread. 

A protective cover for their AirPods case

PodSkinz AirPods Case Protective Silicone Cover, $7.95

Apple AirPods: incredibly convenient, but also incredibly easy to lose and scratch up. A silicone cover is a cheap and attractive way to protect the case protecting their beloved earbuds. 

A pair of $10 headphones with over 30,000 5-star reviews

Panasonic ErgoFit In-Ear Headphones, $8.98

These $10 in-ear headphones are sort of like finding cheap diamonds in the rough. They have over 30,000 5-star reviews on Amazon and are one of few cheap tech products with universal praise. The best features include: noise isolation, good sound, and staying put.  

The smartphone is an essential part of our everyday lives.

But as with all technology, things change. So the question becomes: What will be the next smartphone?

Will it be the connected car? Or the smart speaker? What about the smartwatch?

Find out which device, if any, will take over the smartphone's role with this brand new slide deck from Business Insider Intelligence called The Next Smartphone.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Smartphones are the fastest adopted tech in the U.S.
• Whichever device becomes the next smartphone needs to go everywhere
• Consumer expectations around the smartphone are changing
• And much more

To get your copy of this FREE slide deck, simply click here.

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• President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday evening that he didn't know Brett McGurk, the top US official leading the fight against ISIS.
• Trump called McGurk a "grandstander" for resigning over Trump's recent decision to withdraw 2,000 troops from Syria.
• McGurk reportedly told his colleagues in an email on Friday that he could not in good conscience carry out Trump's orders to withdraw 2,000 troops.
• Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also resigned this week, citing differences between his and Trump's views on how to treat US allies and adversaries.

President Donald Trump on Saturday said he didn't know Brett McGurk, the top US official leading the fight against the Islamic State group, and called him a "grandstander" for resigning over Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria.

"Brett McGurk, who I do not know, was appointed by President Obama in 2015," Trump tweeted. "Was supposed to leave in February but he just resigned prior to leaving. Grandstander? The Fake News is making such a big deal about this nothing event!"

McGurk, who served as the special presidential envoy to the 79-nation Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, was indeed set to retire in February. But on Friday he announced he would resign early.

He told his colleagues in an email obtained by The New York Times that he could not in good conscience carry out Trump's orders to withdraw 2,000 troops.

"The recent decision by the president came as a shock and was a complete reversal of policy that was articulated to us," McGurk said in the email. "It left our coalition partners confused and our fighting partners bewildered."

Read more: Top US official leading fight against ISIS resigns with scathing letter calling Trump's Syria troop withdrawal a 'complete reversal' of US policy

He continued: "I worked this week to help manage some of the fallout but — as many of you heard in my meetings and phone calls — I ultimately concluded that I could not carry out these new instructions and maintain my integrity."

McGurk's resignation came one day after the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who wrote a blunt letter telling Trump he had "the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours" on issues such as respecting US allies and condemning its enemies.

Trump's decision to withdraw the troops triggered condemnation across the political spectrum, with many Republicans denouncing the decision out of fear that such a move would invigorate US foes and pave the way for an ISIS resurgence.

Read more: Trump's move to pull US troops out of Syria was reportedly the final straw for Mattis

But in another tweet on Saturday night, Trump accused the media of unfairly criticizing him over the Syria decision.

"If anybody but your favorite President, Donald J. Trump, announced that, after decimating ISIS in Syria, we were going to bring our troops back home (happy & healthy), that person would be the most popular hero in America," he said. "With me, hit hard instead by the Fake News Media. Crazy!"

Trump also took a shot at Mattis, tweeting that he gave Mattis a "second chance" after former President Barack Obama fired him as the head of Central Command.

"Interesting relationship-but I also gave all of the resources that he never really had," Trump said. "Allies are very important-but not when they take advantage of U.S."

• Read more:
• 'You know what? It's yours': Trump reportedly threw his hands up on Syria during phone call with the Turkish president
• 'We MUST end these unauthorized wars': the anti-war left hesitantly celebrates Trump's troop pullout
• 'Fox & Friends' host blasts Trump for pulling troops out of Syria: 'He said, 'President Obama is the founder of ISIS.' He just refounded ISIS.'
• US Defense Secretary James Mattis left a stark message for his successor in his resignation letter: Wake up and smell the threat

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NOW WATCH: Anthony Scaramucci claims Trump isn't a nationalist: 'He likes saying that because it irks these intellectual elitists'

• Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday that President Donald Trump reassured him that he has never suggested firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
• Mnuchin tweeted that Trump believed he didn't have the power to do so.
• The statement comes in contrast with a Bloomberg report on Friday that said Trump has repeatedly mentioned wanting to fire Powell over raising interest rates multiple times this year.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tweeted Saturday that he spoke to President Donald Trump about reports that he wanted to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell — and said the president reassured him he believed he didn't have the power to do so.

"I have spoken with the President @realDonaldTrump and he said 'I totally disagree with Fed policy. I think the increasing of interest rates and the shrinking of the Fed portfolio is an absolute terrible thing to do at this time, … especially in the light of my major trade negotiations which are ongoing, but I never suggested firing Chairman Jay Powell, nor do I believe I have the right to do so,'" Mnuchin tweeted.

Mnuchin's statement contradicts a Bloomberg report on Friday that said Trump had mentioned wanting to fire Powell over repeatedly raising interest rates this year, despite warnings from his advisers that the move would be politically damaging.

Bloomberg cited four people familiar with the matter who said Trump has become increasingly frustrated with Powell since he again raised interest rates this week.

Read more: Trump's anger over rate hikes is growing as he hints at firing Fed chairman Jerome Powell

On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to raise the rate by 25 basis points to a range of 2.25% to 2.5%, the highest since 2008.

Trump has often criticized Powell for the rate hikes, arguing that "the Fed has gone crazy" and the hikes will slow the economy.

The advisers also said they weren't certain Trump would actually oust Powell, and said they hoped Trump's rage would die down over the holidays.

Powell has chaired the Fed since February, when he took over from Janet Yellen

David Choi contributed reporting.

SEE ALSO: Trump reportedly thought Janet Yellen was not tall enough to lead the Federal Reserve

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NOW WATCH: Anthony Scaramucci claims Trump isn't a nationalist: 'He likes saying that because it irks these intellectual elitists'

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here.

The mobile augmented reality (AR) market is quickly becoming primed for the retail space. By blending the online and in-store shopping journeys, mobile AR promises to provide an immersive digital shopping experience unlike anything shoppers have seen before.

Mobile AR is one of the most coveted technologies for improving the digital shopping experience among consumers. That’s because mobile AR can be used to bring the in-store experience to consumers’ homes by recreating the try-on experience. It allows online shoppers to test out multiple sizes and variations of products, or just see what a product looks like overlaid into their home — without making a true commitment to the purchase or a trip to the store. It can also be used in-store to quickly provide product information or guide users to the right item using location-based services.

Retailers that meet this need for mobile AR stand to pull ahead of the competition. Mobile AR can help build brand loyalty, heighten engagement, increase geographical customer reach, shorten conversion times, boost purchases of larger items, and cut down on returns.

In a new report, Business Insider Intelligence examines the importance of mobile AR to businesses in the retail space, explores the various ways brands are utilizing mobile AR to enhance the customer experience as well as their own, and determines the factors retailers should consider when devising a mobile AR strategy.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• Nearly 75% of consumers already expect retailers to offer an AR experience. Mobile AR retail experiences are more likely to come to fruition as Apple and Google continue to build out their AR developer platforms, ARKit and ARCore, respectively, which will expand the addressable market exponentially.
• Retailers in certain segments, including furniture and home improvement, as well as beauty and fashion, have been the first to jump on the mobile AR bandwagon through their own apps. These sectors appear to have the most immediate need for mobile AR strategies, as trying out furniture and clothes are two of the most coveted AR use cases by consumers.
• Social media is emerging as a prominent channel for retailers to reach consumers through mobile AR experiences. Platforms like Facebook and Snapchat continue to build out tools that businesses and developers can utilize to enhance their advertising strategies with immersive experiences.
• But retailers will have to consider several factors before implementing their mobile AR strategies. These include the cost of building AR experiences, the availability of AR-compatible smartphones, consumer awareness of mobile AR apps, and the quality of mobile AR content.

In full, the report:

• Explores the ways mobile AR brings value to the customer shopping experience. 
• Highlights how the consumer benefits of mobile AR can be transformed into valuable outcomes for retailers.
• Discusses how major retail brands are leveraging mobile AR to enhance the customer journey, and what goals they are striving to achieve.
• Outlines the several factors retailers and brands will have to consider before implementing their mobile AR strategies.

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This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here.

Over the past five years, the world has seen a seemingly unending series of high-profile data breaches, defined as incidents in which unauthorized parties access and retrieve sensitive, secure, or private data.

Major incidents, like the 2013 Yahoo breach, which impacted all 3 million of the tech giant’s customers, and the more recent Equifax breach, which exposed the information of at least 143 million US adults, has kept this risk, and these threats, at the forefront for both businesses and consumers. And businesses have good reason to be concerned — of organizations breached, 22% lost customers, 29% lost revenue, and 23% lost business opportunities.

This threat isn’t going anywhere. Each of the past five years has seen, on average, 1,704 security incidents, impacting nearly 2 billion records. And hackers could be getting more efficient, using new technological tools to extract more data in fewer breach attempts. That’s making the security threat an industry-agnostic for any business holding sensitive data — at this point, virtually all companies — and therefore a necessity for firms to address proactively and prepare to react to.

The majority of breaches come from the outside, when a malicious actor is usually seeking access to records for financial gain, and tend to leverage malware or other software and hardware-related tools to access records. But they can come internally, as well as from accidents perpetrated by employees, like lost or stolen records or devices.

That means that firms need to have a broad-ranging plan in place, focusing on preventing breaches, detecting them quickly, and resolving and responding to them in the best possible way. That involves understanding protectable assets, ensuring compliance, and training employees, but also protecting data, investing in software to understand what normal and abnormal performance looks like, training employees, and building a response plan to mitigate as much damage as possible when the inevitable does occur.

Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has put together a detailed report on the data breach threat, who and what companies need to protect themselves from, and how they can most effectively do so from a technological and organizational perspective.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• The breach threat isn’t going anywhere. The number of overall breaches isn’t consistent — it soared from 2013 to 2016, but ticked down slightly last year — but hackers might be becoming better at obtaining more records with less work, which magnifies risk.
• The majority of breaches come from the outside, and leverage software and hardware attacks, like malware, web app attacks, point-of-service (POS) intrusion, and card skimmers.
• Firms need to build a strong front door to prevent as many breaches as possible, but they also need to develop institutional knowledge to detect a breach quickly, and plan for how to resolve and respond to it in order to limit damage — both financial and subjective — as effectively as possible.

In full, the report:

• Explains the scope of the breach threat, by industry and year, and identifies the top attacks.
• Identifies leading perpetrators and causes of breaches.
• Addresses strategies to cope with the threat in three key areas: prevention, detection, and resolution and response.
• Issues recommendations from both a technological and organizational perspective in each of these categories so that companies can avoid the fallout that a data breach can bring.

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	This report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports
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	And more!

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Digital disruption is affecting every aspect of the fintech industry.

Over the past five years, fintech has established itself as a fundamental part of the global financial services ecosystem.

Fintech startups have raised, and continue to raise, billions of dollars annually, pushing incumbent financial institutions to get in on the action. Legacy players have begun using fintech to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving financial services landscape.

So what's next?

Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, explores recent innovations in the fintech space as well as what might be coming in the future in our brand new exclusive slide deck, The Future of Fintech: How Fintech Is Taking Over The World and What Comes Next.

To get your copy of this free slide deck, click here.

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This is a preview of a research report from Business insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here. 

Telehealth — the use of mobile technology to deliver health-related services, such as remote doctor consultations and patient monitoring — is enabling healthcare providers and payers to address the US healthcare industry’s growing list of problems.

The proliferation and rapid advancement of mobile technology are spurring telehealth adoption, and many believe that 2018 could be the tipping point for the telehealth market.

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence defines the opaque US telehealth market, forecasts the market growth potential and value, outlines the key drivers behind usage and adoption, and evaluates the opportunity telehealth solutions will afford all stakeholders. We also identify key barriers to continued telehealth adoption, and discuss how providers, payers, and telehealth companies are working to overcome these hurdles.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Telehealth is enabling healthcare providers and payers to address the US healthcare industry’s growing list of problems, including rising healthcare costs, an aging population, and the transformation of healthcare from service-centric to consumer-centric, which is straining healthcare system resources and threatening to drive up payer costs.
• Although telehealth solutions aren't suitable for all patients, right now, about 45% of the US population, or 147 million consumers, falls within the addressable market.
• Despite low usage rates, most consumers are open to using telehealth solutions, according to the 2018 Business Insider Intelligence Insurance Technology Study. 
• A range of companies are well-positioned to generate savings in terms of revenue and avoid potential pitfalls by deploying telehealth solutions.

 In full, the report:

• Offers an overview of different types of telehealth services and their applications in the US healthcare ecosystem. 
• Highlights the growth drivers and opportunities of these applications.
• Includes exclusive data and insights from the 2018 Business Insider Intelligence Insurance Technology Study. 
• Provides examples of key players in the telehealth market, including insurers, medical device makers, and health networks. 
• Gives recommendations on how health networks and payers should approach using and deploying telehealth solutions.

Subscribe to an All-Access pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to:

	This report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports
	Access to all future reports and daily newsletters
	Forecasts of new and emerging technologies in your industry
	And more!

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• After a shaky start, wearables like smartwatches and fitness trackers have gained traction in healthcare, with US consumer use jumping from 9% in 2014 to 33% in 2018.
• More than 80% of consumers are willing to wear tech that measures health data — and penetration should continue to climb.
• The maturation of the wearable market will put more wearables in the hands of consumers and US businesses.

The US healthcare industry as it exists today is not sustainable. An aging patient population and rising burden of chronic disease have caused healthcare costs to skyrocket and left providers struggling to keep up with demand for care. 

Meanwhile, digital technologies in nearly every consumer experience outside of healthcare have raised patients’ expectations for good service to be higher than ever.

One of the key mechanisms through which healthcare providers can finally evolve their outdated practices and exceed these expectations is wearable technology.

Presently, 33% of US consumers have adopted wearables, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, to play a more active role in managing their health. In turn, insurers, providers, and employers are poised to become just as active leveraging these devices – and the data they capture – to abandon the traditional reimbursement model and improve patient outcomes with personalized, value-based care.

Adoption is going to keep climbing, as more than 80% of consumers are willing to wear tech that measures health data, according to Accenture — though they have reservations about who exactly should access it.

A new report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, follows the growing adoption of wearables and breadth of functions they offer to outline how healthcare organizations and stakeholders can overcome this challenge and add greater value with wearable technology.

For insurers, providers, and employers, wearables present three distinct opportunities:

• Insurers can use wearable data to enhance risk assessments and drive customer lifetime value. One study shows that wearables can incentivize healthier behavior associated with a 30% reduction in risk of cardiovascular events and death.
• Providers can use the remote patient monitoring capabilities of wearable technology to improve chronic disease management, lessen the burden of staff shortages, and navigate a changing reimbursement model. And since 90% of patients no longer feel obligated to stay with providers that don't deliver a satisfactory digital experience, wearables could help to attract and retain them.
• Employers can combine wearables with cash incentives to lower insurance costs and improve employee productivity. For example, The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority yielded $5 million in healthcare cost savings through a wearable-based employee wellness program.

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The Wearables in US Healthcare Report details the current and future market landscape of wearables in the US healthcare sector. It explores the key drivers behind wearable usage by insurers, healthcare providers, and employers, and the opportunities wearables afford to each of these stakeholders. 

By outlining a successful case study from each stakeholder, the report highlights best practices in implementing wearables to reduce healthcare claims, improve patient outcomes, and drive insurance cost savings, as well as how the evolution of the market will create new, untapped opportunities for businesses.

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