Overview
Executive Overview
Gladly is a customer service platform designed specifically for the modern B2C landscape, moving away from the traditional, ticket-based legacy systems that have dominated the industry for decades. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco, Gladly was created by a team of enterprise software veterans who recognized that the "ticket" model was fundamentally broken for brands seeking to build lasting relationships with their customers.
The platform serves high-growth and established consumer brands across retail, e-commerce, travel, and hospitality. Its primary focus is on consolidating all customer communication channels—including voice, email, SMS, chat, and social media—into a single, unified view centered on the individual customer rather than a case number. This "person-centric" approach allows support teams to provide a seamless, personalized experience that mimics a continuous conversation.
Gladly’s market presence is defined by its partnerships with major brands such as Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel, Ulta Beauty, and JetBlue. These organizations utilize Gladly to empower their frontline agents to act as brand ambassadors who can see a customer's entire history, preferences, and purchase behavior at a glance. By integrating directly with e-commerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce, as well as various CRM and loyalty systems, Gladly acts as the central hub for all customer-facing operations. The company has grown rapidly by positioning itself as the premier solution for brands that compete on the quality of their customer experience rather than just price or product.
Company Differentiation
Gladly distinguishes itself through a radical shift in the fundamental data model of customer service software. While most legacy systems are built around the "ticket"—a transient, numerical identifier that treats interactions as isolated events—Gladly is built around the "person." This human-centric philosophy is deeply embedded in their company culture and business model. They operate on the belief that customer service should feel like a continuous conversation between friends or family members, where context is never lost and the relationship is the primary asset.
Their approach to customer success is equally distinct. Gladly positions itself as a strategic partner to iconic consumer brands, focusing on transforming support centers from cost centers into loyalty-driving engines. This is reflected in their "Lifetime Value" philosophy, where every product update and customer interaction is measured against its ability to deepen the bond between the brand and the consumer. Internally, the company fosters a culture of "radical empathy," encouraging employees to solve for the human experience rather than just the technical requirement. This results in a vendor relationship that is more collaborative and less transactional than traditional SaaS providers, as they prioritize the long-term health of their clients' customer relationships over simple seat-count growth.
Company Demographics
Product Offerings
Gladly offers a streamlined product set focused on person-centered service:
- The Gladly Platform: The core offering including the lifelong conversation timeline, multi-channel routing (Voice, Email, Chat, SMS, Social), and the 'People' database.
- Gladly Sidekick: An AI-powered suite that includes self-service threads for customers and 'Hero AI' for agents (summaries, suggested replies, and knowledge base integration).
- GladApp: A customizable, embeddable self-service interface for websites and mobile apps that allows customers to find answers or transition to a live agent.
- Gladly Connect: The integration framework and marketplace for connecting to CRMs, ERPs, and specialized retail tools.
- Enterprise Edition: Includes advanced features like Sandboxes, HIPAA compliance options, and enhanced security controls for large-scale deployments.
Product Differentiation
The core differentiator of Gladly is its "Channel-Agnostic Thread," which consolidates voice, email, SMS, chat, and social messaging into a single, lifelong conversation stream. Unlike traditional omnichannel platforms that require agents to toggle between tabs or link disparate ticket numbers, Gladly provides a chronological history of every interaction a customer has ever had with a brand. This ensures that agents always have the full context, eliminating the need for customers to repeat their history or provide reference numbers.
Technical advantages include:
- **Native Voice Integration:** Unlike many competitors that rely on third-party integrations for telephony, Gladly’s voice capabilities are built directly into the platform, allowing for seamless transitions from text-based channels to live calls.
- **Collaborative Tooling:** The platform includes "Tasks" and "Huddles" that allow agents to collaborate on a customer’s profile in real-time without leaving the conversation view, ensuring internal communication remains tied to the customer record.
- **Integrated Payments:** Gladly allows agents to process secure payments directly within the conversation window, turning support interactions into commerce opportunities.
- **AI-Driven Personalization:** The platform utilizes Gladly Sidekick, an AI engine that provides suggested responses and automates routine tasks, but does so with a focus on maintaining a personal, human-sounding tone rather than a robotic automated feel.
By removing the friction of ticket management, Gladly significantly reduces Average Handle Time (AHT) while simultaneously increasing Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Scores (NPS).
