Rebuilding the Digital Front Door
Designing experiences that turn today’s fragmented journeys into revenue
The customer journey no longer starts on your homepage. It begins across social, AI search, marketplaces and creators—yet revenue is still won or lost the moment a shopper lands on your site.
Gordon Ramsay's Lucky Cat's, Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London
25th February 2026
PANEL SPONSOR
The customer journey no longer begins on your homepage. It starts across social, AI-driven search, third-party marketplaces, creators and content—long before a shopper ever reaches your site. Yet despite this shift, one moment still determines revenue: the experience a customer encounters when they finally arrive.
Today, retailers face a dual challenge: can your CMS and content workflows keep pace with changing intent, and can your onsite UX translate that intent into conversion? Rigid CMS systems, slow content release cycles, disconnected merchandising, or generic landing experiences are now as damaging to performance as poor navigation or friction-filled checkout.
This February, we’re hosting senior retail leaders for an intimate dinner exploring how content management and UX must evolve together to meet modern customer behaviour. We will focus on real outcomes—not trends—highlighting how brands are integrating CMS strategy, UX design, CRO and analytics to create dynamic, personalised journeys that reflect where customers actually begin and what they expect when they arrive.
Hosted in collaboration with Timberyard Commerce, the evening will deliver honest discussion, tangible examples and practical takeaways—ensuring that your CMS, content and UX collectively power the strongest digital front door in retail.
Together with our community members and panelists, we’ll be discussing:
Panel Discussion: "Rebuilding the Digital Front Door - Designing experiences that turn today’s fragmented journeys into revenue”
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The New Digital Front Door
How the customer journey now begins off-site — and what retailers must change on-site to catch up. -
Experience First, Traffic Second
Moving from traffic obsession to experience obsession — where UX, CRO and meaningful content alignment outperform paid acquisition. -
Designing Journeys for Intent, Not Assumptions
How to use behavioural data and analytics to build UX and content paths that mirror how customers actually discover, learn and decide. -
Aligning Brand Storytelling With Conversion Science
How sustainability, value narratives and customer expectations can be embedded into CMS-led content without sacrificing UX clarity or speed. -
Plus more…
Agenda
6.00pm
Check in, canapes & refreshments
6.30pm
One to one intro meetings
7.20pm
First course
7.40pm
Panel Discussion and Presentation
8.30pm
Main Course
9.05pm
Dessert and Coffees
10.00pm
Wrap up!
Moderators & Panelists
David Williams
Senior Retailer and Consultant (Moderator)
David Williams is a senior eCommerce and digital transformation consultant supporting retailers, brands and technology partners through periods of growth, complexity and change. With over 25 years of retail experience, David has led and worked for international DTC and omnichannel businesses including Charles Tyrwhitt, Deckers Brands, Bowers & Wilkins, and Aspinal of London.
He now works with retailers, consultancies and tech providers across the board, and is known for bridging strategy and execution, driving growth and transformation, and grounding digital decisions in customer intent, data and measurable outcomes.
Ben Jones
Head of Ecommerce & Technology, Osprey London
Ben is currently Head of Ecommerce & Technology at OSPREY LONDON. With 20 years of experience across retail, ecommerce & digital transformation, Ben combines expertise in commercial growth and technology to deliver business impact.
Amanda Doran
Head of Digital Product, Neve Jewels
Amanda brings over a decade of digital product and e‑commerce leadership to her role as Head of Digital Product at Neve Jewels. Prior to joining Neve, she led strategic transformation and digital experience initiatives across major retail and DTC brands, where she played a key role in scaling product capabilities, optimising customer journeys, and driving commercial growth.
She has also held senior roles across fast‑growing digital teams and multi‑brand retail groups, partnering closely with engineering, operations, and marketing to deliver high‑impact, customer‑centric solutions.
Additional panelists to be announced....
Location
Lucky Cat by Gordon Ramsay is a pan-Asian restaurant and bar in Mayfair, London, inspired by the drinking clubs of 1930s Tokyo and Shanghai. It offers a stylish and vibrant atmosphere with an open kitchen and signature raw bar, serving Asian-inspired small plates, robata-grilled dishes, and sushi.
Retail Innovation Dinners
Validify's retail innovation dinners create an environment for senior decision makers from leading retailers and brand executives and retail solution providers to meet, talk, learn and share ideas. It’s a place to meet your peers facing similar challenges and gain insight from industry experts.
We shine a spotlight on some of the best retail tech solutions, share & discuss real life cases studies and all in the privacy of our own area in suitably wonderful surroundings.
One to one meetings
Our curated one to one meetings allow you to meet and connect with some of the newest and most innovative solution providers that will help you get the most out of the upcoming Peak trading period.
The solution providers will each have five minutes to introduce themselves in a series of rapid fire introductions at the beginning of the event.