Sendoso acquires Alyce, as gifting, direct mail platforms consolidate

Corporate gifting platform Sendoso announced it acquired Alyce, combining two of the biggest players in the corporate gifting platform space. 

There will be no immediate changes to either platform, Kris Rudeegraap, CEO of Sendoso, said in the statement. Alyce will operate as Alyce by Sendoso in the immediate future. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Corporate gifting platforms help marketers, sales teams and corporate human resources and administrative teams automate an age-old, manual process: Sending gifts and other direct (snail) mail messages to prospects, customers and employees.

The platforms offer their users integrations into martech systems like CRMs, which help automate the process of selecting prospects and customers to receive gifts and help decide which gifts they should receive. The tools also assist in fulfillment by offering the warehousing and distribution of the gifts, as well as package tracking.

This all adds up to a more efficient, effective way of reaching out to prospects and customers through a real-life channel.

Using data to deliver personalized offline gifts and messages potentially helps businesses rise above the noise of digital channels. But the pandemic ushered in an era of remote work, which created challenges for businesses looking to connect with dispersed customers and prospects via mail.

Consolidation in the direct mail and gifting space was likely inevitable post-pandemic. Sendoso, backed by SoftBank, among others, was perhaps the highest-profile vendor in the space. But Business Insider reported in early October 2023 Sendoso issued its fourth round of layoff notices (subscription required). Other players in the space include Reachdesk and Postal.

Why we care. Much like email — and every other software sector — the direct mail and gifting space is hanging its hat on applications of artificial intelligence to improve efficiency and results. 

Alyce boasts strong personalization capabilities, including the ability to personalize gifts for recipients based on their interests outside of work (known as 5-to-9 capabilities, for the hours most people are focused on their personal life). 

Sendoso features an AI-powered tool called PunPal, which creates clever gift messages for senders. It sees the addition of more AI functionality to the existing strengths of the two companies as one of the keys to success in this area, according to the statement.

Beyond AI, new restrictions from Google and Yahoo for bulk email senders could encourage more marketers and sales leaders to consider offline tactics like direct mail and gifting as alternatives to noisy digital channels.