Buckle up and get ready for a ride into the future of retail experience design!

My guest, David Faulkner, just left a multi-year career leading the design teams for over 100 physical retail locations.

The interesting part? Bose just closed ALL their physical stores, and there were many lessons from this experience.

Today, David takes us inside the design room behind the projects of CapitalOne Cafes – a project he designed and led – and gives us a glimpse into the future of phygital retail in this brand-new world.

David on what's important to him about retail design:

David’s got a fascinating history of experiences – from banking to global retail experience design – and when he jumps on most podcasts, people want to know about the future.

But he rarely gets to spend time talking about the most IMPORTANT part of the work he does: getting to connect with the real humans to make his ideas come to life.

"The human side has always been important to me. The few moments I spend talking to a store manager, hearing their experience in the buildings I manage and watching customers interact with the design of a space, I get excited to hear the impacts, which pushes me to go on." – David Faulkner

David visited a specific memory with us – a CapitalOne café in Portland Oregon – where he got to go “undercover” and speak with customers who used the café experience!

David on Digital Banking

The new way of banking and retailing is going digital. And no surprise – Native Digitals form a considerable part of the clientele of small and large businesses.

But David believes that an analog touch can be the make-or-break of the banking industry.

People enjoy having analog, human connections when their life savings are involved so David believes banks should have a portal to touch base with their customers.

"Digital banking is simply having all the information available immediately at the touch of a button."

When Native Digitals takeover, what’s the purpose of an analog banking experience?

According to David’s experience, banks should be quickly adapting where all transactions are digital. The digital experience must be seamless.

But the physical experience serves a different purpose: (1) education, (2) a place for emotional relationships to be built, and (3) a portal where banks touch base with their customers to be a guide on major life decisions.

For example, Lenovo found that customers buy 3-4x the amount of products when they are in-person vs buying digitally.

David takes us “inside the design room”:

While working with a team, team leaders tend to make the mistake of creating a boring atmosphere without knowing.

This hinders the creativity of everyone and causes an unwillingness to bring their A-game to the project.

So how do you create an effective space for design to happen?

"You want to create a relaxed atmosphere, make it super interactive, you want to center on around 3 core ideas and carry everyone on the team along, make sure everyone is on the same page, count every opinion as important, you will realize then that in no time, ideas start coming and you get moving on the project".

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David’s working on an exciting new project in downtown NYC. You can follow along when you check him out on LinkedIn!

BIO:

David Faulkner has spent decades working alongside senior brands, operations, and distribution executives at the nation's top retailers and financial institutions. His unique perspective on customer experience was formed by touring dozens of Nordstrom Stores with John Nordstrom, the retailer who made Nordstrom synonymous with superior customer service and brand loyalty. Over the next decade, this ethos informed dozens of innovative store concepts Faulkner launched for Gap, Inc., Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Capital One.

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