In this episode of the CX Innovators podcast, Len Covello, CTO at Engage People, shares expert insights why no retailer today can get away without having a loyalty program and what a successful loyalty program should provide to shoppers.

Consumers are participating in 17.4 loyalty programs on average, and program members want more ways to earn rewards and more ways to redeem rewards and more than half, 76%, want transactional rewards such as discounts and cashback options, according to an Antavo report, Global Customer Loyalty Report 2025.

Yet despite growing consumer want and adoption there are year over year declines in overall satisfaction when it comes to loyalty programs.

In the podcast, produced by Networld Media Group and sponsored by Engage People, Covello maps out what a successful loyalty program requires and how Engage People, a loyalty provider, offers with its solution. Engage People was recently recognized at the 2025 Finovate Awards, where our Access Plus platform won the award for "Best Consumer-Facing Payments Solution.

In this episode of the CX Innovators podcast, Mark Frumkin, director of customer success at Modulate, shares expert insight on how online retailers can deploy AI tools to improve fraud detection, reduce harmful customer interactions and elevate both the agent and the customer experience.

The podcast is produced by Networld Media Group and sponsored by Modulate, which provides real-time conversational and voice intelligence technology for customer service and contact centers. Its solutions include ToxMod (real-time detection of harassment and abuse) and VoiceVault (fraud and identity verification through voice), which work in a safeguard agent role against abusive callers, protecting customers from scams and fraud, and ensuring compliance — all while reducing call times and friction in the customer experience.

Frumkin leads a team in partnering with customers in the gaming and retail delivery space, including Activision, Riot Games and Rockstar Games. He oversees Modulate's customer success strategy, ensuring smooth onboarding and ongoing successful outcomes for customers, helping them to detect and prevent abuse and fraud in their voice channels and phone lines. Before joining Modulate, Mark was a consultant at Deloitte, where he led projects to deliver cutting-edge technology solutions across various industries.

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Music plays a pivotal role in the retail customer experience as well as retailer's success.

As Ola Sars, CEO of Soundtrack Technologies, shares with Judy Mottl, editor of Retail Customer Experience, in this episode of the CX Innovators podcast, music has become a CX strategy that can drive customer loyalty as well as revenue.

Sars was a co-founder and COO of Beats Music, a subscription streaming service acquired by Apple in 2014 in a $3 billion dollar deal and which eventually transformed into Apple Music.

The Stockholm-based serial music tech entrepreneur is a 2024 Billboard International Power Player. Initially developed in a joint effort with Spotify, Soundtrack serves over 80,000 businesses across 74 countries with a music catalog of more than 100 million tracks available for commercial use.

Check out the Networld Media Group YouTube channel to catch up on past CX Innovators podcasts.