Forget stumbling through a customer-support page – the future of commerce won't be found by surfing the World Wide Web. 

Soon many of the tasks we now do via websites and brand-specific apps will be handled through messaging and voice platforms like iMessage, WhatsApp, and Amazon's Alexa, according to Alex Spinelli, the chief technology officer at LivePerson.

Today, companies like Home Depot, T-Mobile, and Discover manage customer-service chats with LivePerson. Though chat technology is seeing a resurgence thanks to the proliferation of smartphones, LivePerson was founded in 1995 as a web-chat alternative to 1-800 numbers and call centers. 

LivePerson's new vision means no more awkward drop-down menus, no more shopping carts, and definitely no more URLs. 

"Our thesis is that conversation is a more natural way of interacting with brand services," Spinelli said. "It will become the dominant way that people interact in their digital lives."

It may seem like a big leap from the present day, but Spinelli envisions a world five years from now in which there are no websites and very few apps. 

"The whole app catastrophe that lives on your phone is overwhelming," Spinelli said. "On my iPhone, I have 127 apps that need updating. You can't keep up." 

Meanwhile, people will continue to interact with screens. In Spinelli's vision, the e-commerce shopping experience of the future starts when a carousel of items pops up at the bottom of the screen. The shopper browses the carousel, clicks the item they want, and instantly pays through a system like Apple Pay. All of that happens within a chat window. 

And that vision isn't too far off from what's already on the market today. 

Apple and Google are prepared for this future.  Earlier this month, LivePerson announced a new offering called LiveEngage for Voice Assistants, which lets customers start interacting with a brand through a voice assistant like Alexa while hanging out at home and then move that conversation over to chat on a mobile device when they leave the house. 

The big idea behind LiveEngage is that customers can have one continuous conversation across multiple modes of communication – something that dovetails with the bigger vision of LivePerson. 

Spinelli joined LivePerson in March after five years at Amazon — first as director of Amazon Search, and later as global head of Alexa OS, the operating system behind Amazon's famed voice assistant. 

When he learned that both Apple and Google added conversational commerce products directly into their smartphone operating systems, he decided to make the move to LivePerson, where he could embrace the trend head-on. 

Apple Business Chatlaunched in beta mode with select brands last year. It's designed to let customers find brands on iMessage and interact with them using dynamic features that manage everything from scheduling an appointment to making a purchase. 
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Google's Android has a similar option with its business-focused Rich Communication Services, currently in beta.

Put your augmented reality goggles on and dial up 2040. Here’s one possible view of where the world will move in the next 22 years.

You've just got an autonomous electric taxi from the gym to work, picked up a coffee and—in the lift to your office—watched a short advertisement on the heads-up display projected by your wearable digital assistant, clipped to your collar.

In a matter of minutes, four transactions have taken place. And you haven’t put your hand in your pocket to get out a wallet once. Notes and coins have long since disappeared, and nobody even uses their phone to pay for things anymore. In fact, no-one thinks about money in 2040—it just happens. (Well, technically you were recognized by an iris scan for each transaction, but pointing that out destroys the magic of it.)

Back up a minute. You might have noticed there were four transactions in those few minutes, but only two purchases: the taxi and coffee. That’s because you also received two micropayments this morning—small amounts of money you were given in exchange for a service. The first was while you were at the gym. When you joined the club, you agreed to share your cardiovascular data with a medical-research company in return for micropayments every time you work out. You also received a micropayment when you watched the advertisement about that trip to Venice suggested by your digital assistant.

In 2040, the value of your data no longer flows to search providers or social networks. Instead, it all goes to you, allowing you to sell it to offset small costs throughout the day. The monetization of every aspect of our daily lives also creates a role for charity and altruism: You have the option to donate part of your regular micropayment income stream to your favorite charity in return for tax credits.

At lunchtime, you meet up with an old friend who now works overseas. After your meal, you both ask your digital assistants to split the bill and add a tip. You get up, pass your thanks on to the chef (yes, chefs are still human in 2040) and walk straight out; there’s no need to ask for the check. Fortunately, your visiting friend doesn’t have to worry about currency exchange costs, even though they’re not in their home country. Like you, they use a handful of digital currencies that are acceptable the world over and have minimal conversion costs.

The cryptocurrencies that emerged in the 2010s were not destined to last. But the blockchain tech that underpinned them evolved to create a new generation of super safe and completely transparent forms of money. Indeed, technology arrived just in time to fill the vacuum created by the collapse of trust in traditional institutions, which had historically acted as guarantors of currency stability.

After a hard day at work, your digital assistant knows you might not be in the mood to review your finances on the way home. But your assistant knows how to make the experience personal—and quick. “If you switch your regular savings to another provider, you’ll be able to reach your holiday saving target quicker and improve your credit rating; do want me to action that? And, by the way, your utility provider contract expires next month; would you like me to switch you to the lowest-cost renewable provider in line with your preferences?” Five minutes later, the autonomous cab reaches your apartment—and your finances are under control.
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Will all this be possible? Of course, no one knows. But micropayments, iris scans, and digital assistants are already a reality. Furthermore, the furor over the use of personal data by social networks could lead to people being rewarded for the use of their information. Our expectations as consumers are soaring as our lifestyles change and the pace of innovation accelerates. Increasingly, we want to live in a cashless mobile-only society—and technology will, therefore, find a way to make that happen.

Visa and Mastercard have chips embedded in hundreds of millions of credit and debit cards around the world. They're used in more than 200 countries and process billions of payments each year. And they both intend to create bank cards that use your fingerprint instead of a PIN. 

Early trials of cards with fingerprint scanners built-in are underway, and success could eventually result in the death of the humble PIN. "A four-digit PIN is pretty good security – obviously, six, seven or eight digits are better, but it is very hard for people to remember," says Bob Reany, an executive vice president at Mastercard, who is working on the firm's biometric cards. "[This] security is going to be better than a PIN."

In April 2017, Mastercard started testing a biometric card in South Africa. The new card looks the same as any other bank card but has a small biometric scanner in the top right-hand corner. When a finger is placed on the sensor, it can recognize if it is a match with stored data and then authorize the payment.

Mastercard now has more trials running in Bulgaria, and Reany says thousands of fingerprint-detecting cards will be tested elsewhere in the world later this year. "We've gotten the algorithms in great shape, now we're doing matching on the native device where the template is captured, and we're ready to go to market at some scale," he says. Crucially, in the coming months, banks will be issuing them to regular customers for the first time. Reany won't reveal exactly where the cards will be given to people, but he says more announcements are coming. "I think you're going to see pockets of Europe go pretty quickly," Reany says of potential adoption. 

Rival Visa is also testing biometric cards in Cyprus with the country's national bank and security company Gemalto, which has been creating the cards for both of the major payment companies, says it has produced "tens of thousands" of biometric cards for tests. 
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Ultimately, payment companies are continuing to develop biometric bank cards, and trials are getting bigger. At their very least, biometric cards will offer a slightly more convenient way to pay, but they may also evolve with increasing use of fingerprint technology in other areas of people's lives. As Berg says: "People forget their PINs but very rarely do you go out without your fingers."

After an extended testing period and one delay, Amazon’s cashier-free grocery store finally opened to the public last month. But it seems that the experiment has already been deemed a success, as the company is reportedly planning six more Amazon Go locations by the end of this year.

According to Recode, which cites people familiar with the plans, at least three of the new stores will open in Seattle – the same city where the current Amazon Go is found – while others will appear in Los Angeles. It’s unclear if Amazon will open more outlets in different locations this year.

Recode adds that Jeff Bezos’ company has held “serious talks” with billionaire developer Rick Caruso about placing one of its stores within The Grove, L.A’s famous 600,000-square foot outdoor shopping center.

Amazon Go’s “Just Walk Out Technology” uses a combination of machine learning, computer vision, deep learning algorithms and sensor fusion to determine when you pick up an item and place it in your basket. It even knows if something is returned to the shelf, should you change your mind. Once shoppers leave the premises, the total cost is automatically charged to their associated Amazon account.

While the system removes the need for cashiers, the stores are still staffed by humans who stock shelves, check IDs for alcohol purchases, and other duties, along with security guards.

After it opened in late 2016, only Amazon employees could use the company’s Seattle Go store during the lengthy beta phase. It was supposed to open in March last year, but the system reportedly struggled when more than 20 people were in the store. As such, the opening was delayed until January, though Amazon claims the delay was due to excessive demand from its employees.
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While they are due sometime in 2018, there’s no word on exactly when we’ll see the new Amazon Go stores. Given that the original has only just opened to the public, they’re more likely to arrive in the second half of the year. Eventually, it's thought that Amazon may start implementing the technology in Whole Foods outlets – the company acquired the organic-food chain in 2017. How such a move would affect Whole Foods staff is unclear.

Starbucks is embracing voice-based computing with the launch of a new feature in its mobile app called My Starbucks Barista, which allows customers to order and pay for their food and drinks just by speaking. This includes being able to modify their drink order, as if they were speaking with a barista in real life. Additionally, the company is launching a skill for the Amazon Alexa platform, which lets customers re-order their favorite items by speaking to their Echo speaker or other Alexa-powered device. 

The feature utilizes artificial intelligence to process the incoming orders through a new messaging interface in the Starbucks app. Here, customers can also interact with the virtual assistant by messaging their order, chatbot-style. The assistant can confirm which location you want to order from, and help to process the payment, as well. 

Starbucks says that the new assistant will initially only be available to one thousand customers using iOS devices nationwide during a limited beta test, with a phased rollout planned through summer 2017. The Android version will be available later in the year. 

The launches come at a time when voice computing is on the rise. A recent forecast from VoiceLabs estimates that 24.5 million voice-first devices will ship in 2017, with platforms like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home leading the way. Customers are also getting more comfortable speaking to assistants on their mobile devices, like Siri, Cortana, and Google Assistant, as a means of accessing information or performing tasks. 

It makes sense then, that Starbucks would join this trend with efforts of its own. Its app has already led the market in terms of advancing technologies like mobile payments and order-ahead, so being among the first in its space to debut a voice assistant is the next logical step. 
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 “The Starbucks experience is built on the personal connection between our barista and customer, so everything we do in our digital ecosystem must reflect that sensibility,” said Gerri Martin-Flickinger, chief technology officer for Starbucks. “Our team is focused on making sure that Starbucks voice ordering within our app is truly personal.”

In a plan that could disrupt conventional grocery chains, local bodegas and app-based services like Instacart, Amazon is hoping to open more than 2,000 self-branded grocery stores.

The first of these new brick-and-mortar experiments branded Amazon Go, is an 1800-square-foot retail space located in the company’s hometown of Seattle, lets shoppers just grab the items they want and leave; the order gets charged to their Amazon account afterwards.

Amazon Go works by using computer vision and sensors to detect what items you’re taking out of the store. You start by opening Amazon’s app on your smartphone and scanning a code into their turnstile as you enter the Amazon Go store. You do your normal shopping, and the sensors throughout the store identify the items in your cart and charge them to your Amazon account when you walk out the door. It’ll feel like shoplifting, except you’re actually being watched by more cameras than you can imagine. 

The store will stock most items you’d find in a local convenience store: snacks, drinks, pre-made food like salads and sandwiches, and grocery essentials like bread and milk. It’ll also sell Blue Apron-like meal kits that let you cook your own dinners for two. 

Though Amazon Go does do away with human cashiers, there are no robots physically stocking the store, so while it does eliminate some jobs, it’s not a completely automated system.

The store is currently open in beta to Amazon employees only. A public opening is scheduled for early 2017. 
There are two other store formats that Amazon is considering. First is a much larger, multifunction store with curbside pickup options. The second option is a drive-through store, without any in-person browsing. Two of the drive-through prototypes are set to open in Seattle within the next few weeks.

There’s more information on this YouTube video.