Imprint Engine

Great products come and go. Great experiences live on.

Gifting & Direct Mail
★★★★★ 5
2012 Founded
51-200 Employees
unknown Customers
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, USA Headquarters

Quick Facts

Starting Price
unknown
Pricing Model
freemium
Company Type
private

About Imprint Engine

Imprint Engine is a global, platform-driven brand experience partner that helps companies design, produce, store, and ship branded merchandise, print, and corporate gifts from a single, unified program. Powered by its proprietary IEX software and supported by in-house creative and production teams, the company focuses on turning “swag” into thoughtful, measurable offline brand experiences across the employee and customer lifecycle. imprintengine.com

Founded in 2012 in Minneapolis by marketers Caleb Gilbertson and Travis Veit, Imprint Engine has grown from a two-person operation into a nearly 100-person organization with a 40,000-square-foot production and fulfillment facility in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, plus offices in Dublin, Ireland and Delhi, India. The company has posted strong multi-year revenue growth and has been recognized on rankings such as the Inc. 5000 and PPAI 100 for fast-growing distributors in the promotional products space. imprintengine.com

Imprint Engine’s IEX platform goes beyond a basic swag store: it centralizes global inventory management, automated corporate gifting, and online company stores while connecting to HRIS, CRM, SSO, and collaboration tools. The 2023 acquisition of automated gifting platform Bluebird CX added deeper campaign automation, support for both digital and physical sends, and richer reporting to serve HR, marketing, sales, and people teams running employee and customer engagement programs. imprintengine.com

Serving leading brands such as Uber, GitHub, GoPuff, Klarna, Microsoft, Walmart, DocuSign, Miro, Postman, LegalZoom and others, Imprint Engine increasingly competes with modern corporate gifting and swag management platforms while differentiating on its combination of owned infrastructure, creative services, and technology. Recent recognition, including the 2024 Minnesota Governor’s International Trade Award and continued global expansion across North America, EMEA and APAC, underscores its position as a premium partner for large, distributed organizations that need consistent, on-brand experiences at scale. imprintengine.com

Key Features

IEX Portal for managing the full lifecycle of offline brand experiences - from finding and designing merch to producing, storing, and shipping it globally from one place. imprintengine.com

Global inventory management with real-time stock visibility, SKU-level reporting, and multi-country warehouse support to keep swag closets consolidated and accurate. imprintengine.com

Corporate gifting automation (via Bluebird CX) for sending physical gifts and digital e-gifts at scale, triggered by HRIS or CRM events such as onboarding, anniversaries, and customer milestones. newswire.com

Online company stores built and maintained by Imprint Engine on Shopify Plus or AWS, with branded UX/UI, internal or public access, and advanced user permissions. imprintengine.com

Send-anything workflows that let users ship swag, kits, collateral, or print materials to one or thousands of recipients in 180+ countries with customs and return support handled by Imprint Engine. imprintengine.com

Deep HRIS, CRM, SSO, and productivity integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, BambooHR, Workday, Okta, Google Workspace, etc.) to sync people data and trigger automated sends. imprintengine.com

Digital gift card sending alongside physical packages, enabling flexible reward and recognition programs from the same platform. imprintengine.com

AI Email Assistance and automation features that help users compose outreach, manage campaigns, and streamline workflows directly from the IEX Portal. imprintengine.com

Budget controls, department-level product visibility, and role-based user permissions so teams can govern who sends what, to whom, and at what spend level. imprintengine.com

Standard and custom reporting connected to Imprint Engine's ERP, providing insights into campaign performance, inventory turns, and spend across teams and regions. imprintengine.com

Dedicated brand management, including a named brand manager, optional shared Slack channel, and annual product/brand strategy planning for larger accounts. imprintengine.com

In-house creative and production services (design, custom product development, screen printing, embroidery, engraving, photography, and videography) for tighter control over quality and timelines. imprintengine.com

Sustainability- and logistics-aware global fulfillment model that uses regional hubs to reduce transit times and emissions for distributed teams. imprintengine.com

Pros & Cons

👍 Pros

  • Customer service and support teams are frequently praised as highly responsive, friendly, and proactive in solving issues and guiding campaigns. g2.com
  • The platform is described as easy to use and intuitive, especially for selecting products, customizing notes, and having recipients confirm addresses. g2.com
  • Automations and integrations with HR and CRM systems make it simple to trigger employee recognition and client gifting without manual work. g2.com
  • Global shipping and fulfillment (including customs handling) significantly reduce the logistical burden of sending swag to distributed employees and customers. imprintengine.com
  • End-to-end handling of inventory, company stores, and campaign execution means customers can consolidate vendors and get a true one-stop shop. imprintengine.com
  • Reviewers highlight that the platform saves substantial time, freeing teams to focus on strategy and client work instead of managing swag logistics. g2.com

👎 Cons

  • Several reviewers note that the service carries a bit of a price premium compared with basic swag vendors, though they feel the time savings justifies the cost. g2.com
  • Shipping and freight charges can add up quickly for some campaigns, especially when shipping internationally or high volumes of packages. g2.com
  • A few users mention UI limitations and image handling quirks, as well as general "growing pains" and product limitations that the team is actively improving. g2.com
  • The breadth of available products and options can be overwhelming, making it harder for some users to quickly narrow down choices without guidance. g2.com

User Reviews

G2
5.0
★★★★★
Capterra
unknown
☆☆☆☆☆
TrustRadius
unknown
☆☆☆☆☆

Integrations

Salesforce HubSpot Zapier Google Workspace Microsoft Entra ID Okta OneLogin BambooHR Workday ADP Gusto Rippling Justworks Namely Personio UKG Pro Shopify Square Paylocity SAP SuccessFactors

Best For

Company Size

smb mid-market enterprise

Industries

Technology & SaaS E-commerce & Retail Financial Services & Fintech Professional Services Marketplaces & On-Demand

Use Cases

Automated employee onboarding, anniversaries, and lifecycle gifting programs driven by HRIS data. Account-based marketing and sales prospect gifting to accelerate pipeline and improve response rates. Always-on customer appreciation, renewal, and upsell campaigns using physical and digital gifts. Event and conference swag kits, speaker gifts, and branded materials for field marketing. Global management of company stores, uniforms, and evergreen branded merchandise.

FAQ

What is Imprint Engine?

+

Imprint Engine is a global brand experience partner and technology platform that helps companies design, produce, store, and ship branded merchandise and gifts worldwide. Its IEX platform centralizes inventory, company stores, and automated gifting workflows, while in-house creative and production teams handle decoration, kitting, and fulfillment from facilities in the U.S., Europe, and India. imprintengine.com

How much does Imprint Engine cost?

+

Imprint Engine offers a freemium model with a Free tier and paid Express, Pro, and Enterprise plans, but specific pricing is not published. Buyers request pricing via the IEX pricing form and may also incur per-shipment fulfillment and shipping costs, plus optional fees for advanced integrations, creative services, and online stores. Enterprise pricing is fully custom and requires contacting their sales team. imprintengine.com

What are the main features of Imprint Engine?

+

Key features include the IEX Portal for global inventory and send management, automated corporate gifting powered in part by the Bluebird CX acquisition, customizable online company stores, digital gift card support, and deep integrations with systems like Salesforce, HubSpot, leading HRIS platforms, and SSO providers. Customers also get access to in-house design, custom product development, and global fulfillment and logistics support. imprintengine.com

Who are Imprint Engine's main competitors?

+

Imprint Engine's primary competitors in the gifting and swag management space include sending platforms and swag providers such as Sendoso, Reachdesk, Brilliant, Postal.io, and Printfection. Buyers often compare them on integration depth, creative capabilities, global fulfillment footprint, and pricing transparency. g2.com

Is Imprint Engine good for small businesses?

+

Imprint Engine does serve small businesses and even offers a Free plan, but it tends to be best suited for organizations that send gifts and swag regularly and want to automate programs through HRIS and CRM integrations. Very small or highly price-sensitive businesses that only need occasional one-off swag orders may find traditional local distributors or lightweight gifting tools more economical, while growth-oriented SMBs with recurring programs can benefit from the time savings and automation Imprint Engine provides. imprintengine.com

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