??? 門上沒有任何標記，窗簾半垂，墻上也沒有多少裝飾。——站在Chirpify位于美國俄勒岡州波特蘭市的總部大樓所在的街道對面，這樣的畫面很難讓人覺得，這棟大樓的底樓辦公室里起碼還是有人在的。反倒是它的左鄰右舍——MTV頻道真人秀《現實世界》（The Real World）即將啟用的下一班人馬——吸引了外界投來的全部目光。不過，Chirpify就是在這里，說服它的用戶們發布“購買”、“捐贈”、“支付”等推文，利用Twitter完成現實世界當中的金錢交易的。

????Chirpify為企業及消費者創造了在特定的社交媒體上進行交易的可能。用戶只要用鍵盤輸入“支付@jppullen 30美元的餐費”這樣合理排序的命令句，便可借助簡單的語法結構——Chirpify創始人克里斯?特索稱之為“交談式商務”（conversational commerce）——完成購買、捐贈、支付等一系列圍繞著購物車展開的動作。這項服務自2012年2月上線以來，注冊用戶人數已達10,000名，完成交易逾3,000次。

????過去的兩個月里，這項服務的增長勢頭十分迅猛，一定程度上要歸功于那些富有遠見的用戶，如利用它銷售音樂MP3、T恤衫及其他同類商品的綠日樂隊（Green Day）和阿曼達?帕摩爾等。這家公司的目標并不僅限于Twitter上的名人用戶。特索稱：“我們的長期愿景，是要實現社交網絡商務流程的去中心化。”就在今天，Chirpify又發布公告稱，他們將為圖片分享服務Instagram帶來同樣的服務。

????《貨幣的終結》（The End of Money）一書的作者戴維?沃爾曼表示，如果將Twitter看作是一場規模龐大的雞尾酒舞會，那么Chirpify就是要讓消費者連手中的酒水都不必放下，便可以完成對交談中所涉任意一款商品的購買。“如果你清楚自己想要哪種商品，你要做的不過是點一下鼠標，或是用鍵盤輸入‘購買’二字，”他說。“就未來的商務形態而言，這是個十分了不起的創意。”

????沃爾曼的著作探討了我們即將迎來的無現金（cash-free）社會所帶來的影響，正是一款適合通過Chirpify銷售的產品。由于Twitter交談擁有可為用戶帶來意外收獲的特性，沃爾曼察覺到，這在他與他的讀者之間，在他與他在別處無從覓得的一群人之間，架起了一道橋梁；但他也同時注意到，他在Twitter上銷售的商品是本實體書。（Chirpify對電子圖書銷售的影響應該會更大。）

????但它的重大意義并不僅僅在于迅速獲利。估算社交媒體投資回報率的問題素來讓CMO（首席營銷官）們感到棘手。Chirpify通過精簡整個購買流程所包含的環節，將發布在社交媒體上的一條條信息和它們所帶來的購買量直接聯系了起來。“人們與這些（Chirpify推文）的互動速度甚至超過了Twitter官方向用戶推送的特定推文，因為這些Chirpify推文確實能夠發揮出實際的效用。”

????舉個例子來說，9月6日那天，綠日樂隊在MTV電視臺主辦的音樂電視大獎（VMA）頒獎典禮上演唱了一首新歌。演出結束后，這支樂隊的Twitter賬號發布了下面這樣一條推文：“#VMA 特價！喜歡這首新歌嗎？歡迎購買新曲＋3張綠日新專輯，促銷于明日結束。用@Chirpify 回復‘購買’，只需29.99美元。”回復購買者則會收到一封私信回復，內容為恭喜購買成功、下載鏈接在此云云。實際上相當于只用了兩條推文，就完成了聽歌、付款、成交這一整套流程。

????There's no sign on the door, the shades are half drawn, and there's little art on the walls. Standing across the street from Chirpify's Portland, Ore. headquarters, you'd hardly think its first-floor office was even occupied. Its neighbors -- the upcoming cast of MTV's The Real World -- get all the attention. But Chirpify is there convincing users to tweet "buy," "donate," or "pay," to make real world transactions over Twitter.

????Chirpify enables businesses and consumers to make in-stream transactions over social media. Using simple grammatical construction -- or what founder Chris Teso calls "conversational commerce" -- users can make purchases, donations, or transfers that circumvent the shopping cart, simply by typing out a properly ordered command like "Pay @jppullen $30 for lunch tab." Since the service's February 2012 launch, 10,000 members have signed up and more than 3,000 transactions have been made.

????Over the past two months, the service has gathered momentum thanks, in part, to high-visibility users such as Green Day and Amanda Palmer using it to sell MP3s, T-shirts and the like. The company's goals go beyond celebritweets. "Our long-term vision is to de-centralize the commerce process across social networks," says Teso. Today, Chirpify announced the addition of its services to Instagram.

????If you think of Twitter as a giant cocktail party, says David Wolman, author of The End of Money, Chirpify allows consumers to buy whatever is being discussed without even putting down their drinks. "If you know you want something, it shouldn't take more than a click, or typing the letters b-u-y," he says. "That's a pretty powerful idea, when it comes to the future of commerce."

????Wolman's book explores the implications of our impending cash-free society, an apropos product to sell through Chirpify. Because of the serendipity of Twitter conversations, Wolman felt that he connected with readers with whom he wouldn't have found otherwise, but he also notes the Twitter sale was of the physical book. (Chirpify would likely influence e-book sales even more.)

????More than a quick profit is at stake. CMOs have long labored to measure return-on-investment from social media. By reducing the steps to purchase something, Chirpify creates a direct correlation between individual social media posts and the amount of purchases they generate. "People interacted with [Chirpify tweets] at a rate that was much higher than even Twitter's promoted tweets because there's actual utility in the tweet," says Teso. "It wasn't just a redirection somewhere else."

????For example, on Sept. 6, Green Day performed a new song at MTV's Video Music Awards. After the show, the band's Twitter account tweeted: "#VMA special! Love the new song? Get it now + all 3 new GD albums, deal ends tmrw Reply "buy" for $29.99 via @Chirpify." The purchase was delivered back as a direct message that says congratulations on the purchase, here's your download link. It is, in effect, a listing, payment, and fulfillment process, all wrapped up within two tweets.