What Financial Institutions Can Learn from Retail Design

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“Everything is retail” is not breaking news. Banks and financial institutions already (mostly) know this. It is, however, a key first step toward understanding public and business spaces beyond purely superficial and transactional thinking.

What is now the prime directive in the highly completive world of branded business environments is seeking and providing continual and strategic upgrades to customer and associate experiences.

Banking customers now expect environments that feel welcoming, intuitive and emotionally engaging, while associates need support for making this happen. By creating consistent, human-centered experiences across every touchpoint, banks can build stronger trust, deeper brand loyalty and more meaningful customer relationships.

Let’s consider how to do this.

1. Bank branches and customer communication

2. An efficient, tiered approach to developing your branch network

3. Your brand optimized to meet your customers, wherever they are

4. Unified banking experiences for all touchpoints

5. Banking experiences that foster emotional connection

Fifth Third Bank wanted a dynamic, customer-centric banking experience within its refreshed branches, one that is aesthetically pleasing, purposeful and flexible. Whether it's digital displays or wall vinyl  or lighting, our program management maintains end-to-end efficiency and transparency.

Bank branches and customer communication

Retailers thrive when they create intuitive efficiency and satisfying experiences for their in-store customers, no matter their trip mission. Banks provide different products and services, but the goal is the same: A business environment optimized for its customers’ and associates’ wants and needs.

In the past, branch redesigns mostly followed the “pretty picture” program of new paint, new carpet, new signage and upgraded teller stations, etc. That sort of thinking was followed by the incorrect guess that branches were going away as banking transitioned toward an almost entirely online existence.

“Beyond big-city flagships, an entire regional or national branch network with a wide variety of footprints requires pragmatic and creative analysis to strengthen and refresh the brand and meet the specific needs of each location.”

Instead, branches are being reconsidered and strategically analyzed in order to strengthen branch networks by transforming transactional spaces into upgraded environments that offer advice, consultation and positive brand experiences. The new retail mindset requires a focus on customer journeys, visual merchandising, flexible formats, localization, brand storytelling and human-centric moments of surprise and delight.

While the reenergized efforts at branch design prioritize customer experience, bank brands also need to understand the details of scaling and execution. Beyond big-city flagships, an entire regional or national branch network with a wide variety of footprints requires pragmatic and creative analysis to strengthen and refresh the brand and meet the specific needs of each location.

An efficient, tiered approach to developing your branch network

Start by seeking a complete understanding of your branch network, understanding commonalities and distinctions.

Size, condition, traffic volume and location nuances all should be considered. Perform a realistic, data-based analysis of your branches. Seek feedback from associates. There will be plenty of intersections for branch upgrades, but it also will become clear that cookie-cutter solutions won’t work. Develop a tiered approach that prioritizes key locations and audiences, establishes investment levels and optimizes impact. Some branches might be closed. Others expanded or reworked for an evolving audience.

This isn’t a one-person job either. You’ll need an efficient, strong internal decision-making core and good connections and communication with vendor partners that are seamless from design through installation. Too many voices create confusion and potential conflict. Too few create blind spots and a potential lack of engagement at critical junctures of the process.

Assemble a cross-functional group that includes key stakeholders from design/branding, marketing, operations, digital/AI, customer experience and legal. This baseline group sets the tone, defines the priorities and centralizes the customer experience. It ensures that design intent is aligned with execution and ultimate results.

Delivering dynamic, memorable branding for Citizens. Miller Zell created custom, atmospheric digital animations for the giant daisywheel icon overhead. Behind the large icon, eight digital screens create the board canvas to show a series of animations that appear through the exposed areas of the daisywheel. 

Your brand optimized to meet your customers, wherever they are

Pay particular attention to two critical issues for optimizing the customer experiences of your branches: branding and technology.

Whatever the branch size or investment level, your brand expression needs to be consistent throughout the network, just like retailers.

Develop detailed branding playbooks to support your modular kits of parts for varying branch footprints. This ensures that branches deliver with a consistent brand standard.

Further, create a straightforward review process to catch and correct misaligned elements and encourage field feedback to improve and adapt. This also lays the groundwork for efficiently beginning the process of “what’s next” for your customer experience. Which digital integrations are embraced by customers and which are not? What digital content is helpful and what is ignored?

Just like retailers, banks need to create a cohesive brand experience across all physical and digital channels. This fosters comfort, security and emotional attachment for your customers, which is the foundation for brand loyalty.

Unified banking experiences for all touchpoints

Seamlessly integrating branch design with your app, other digital touchpoints and brand strategy is critical for creating a meaningful, relevant branch experience.

Some of your customers will do almost all of their banking online or through your app. Therefore, ensure that brand expression is the same online and offline. Environmental design guidelines that align with brand guidelines create omnichannel consistency now and into the future, whatever the customer touchpoint.

Other customers will prefer person-to-person branch experiences for a wide range of interactions. Many of these customers will embrace in-branch digital interactions that remove friction and decrease waiting time by engaging with them as they enter to personalize their experience. And some customers, of course, will want all business transactions to occur face to face. Provide them easy wayfinding solutions so they know where to go and what they need to do to get service.

Holistic planning and design allow customers to choose how they want to interact with your team members by creating customizable experiences. For example, offering a range of seating options — conversation over a coffee table, consultation at a high-top bar or meeting in a traditional office — provides customers choices that match their comfort preferences.

Citizens Hyde Park location is a brand beacon. Miller Zell designers saw the branch as a billboard opportunity that projects a strong brand impression and looks open and accessible even after staff hours, aided by high-impact graphics and continuous digital content. Despite its small footprint, a change in flooring from wood laminate to carpet was deliberate to separate walk-up standing transactions at the teller station from more conversation-based business. 

Banking experiences that foster emotional connection

Your branch environment should anticipate customers’ wants and needs and make them feel welcomed, guided and valued. So, your branch design should communicate in clear ways that deliver consistently engaging experience for every touchpoint.

Great retail and banking experience shares a foundation: creating ROI through loyal customers who become brand advocates.

If you’d like to hear more on upgrading banking experiences, click here.