Fixings Education Board – How It Works

A visit to the hardware store to look for wall fixings can be a frustrating experience, unless you know the exact product you’re looking for. Sifting through all the different packs with different tech specs and trying to figure out which one would work best for you can be exhausting and time-consuming. And from a small retailer’s point of view, trying to help a customer find the right product while simultaneously serving other customers and answering the phone can get pretty hectic (as anyone who’s ever manned a busy shop will know!)  

The good news is that as an alternative to frantic multitasking, there’s a simpler way to take some of the confusion and stress away. Metex have been using unique Cobra fixings education boards to help customers find the right fixing easily and save retailers’ time. If you’ve visited a retailer who stocks our wall fixings kits, or if you’re one of those retailers yourself, you’ll likely have come across one of these: 

The fixings education boards  are included with our fixings retail kits, as part of the display. The idea is to show all the necessary information about the fixings in the kit clearly at a glance: Installation, how the fixing actually works, suitable wall materials, maximum load, and whether a drill is needed to install them. The last point is handy especially for busy home DIYers who may not have a lot of tools at their disposal! And the colours match the fixings packs in the display, so once the customer knows what they need, they can find the right pack easily.  

The fixing education boards are a unique innovation from our supplier Cobra Anchors, a market leader in fixings in the US. Cobra created the boards in response to customer needs, as Sales Manager Michel Belzile explains:  

“Our marketing team designed our educational displays with the help of suppliers. We were looking for something more visual so that the consumer could understand how the Cobra anchor deploys on the wall. As far as we’re aware, this approach is unique.” 

Cobra developed the first educational displays back in 2009, and currently have three different board sizes, 60cm, 91cm and 122cm, divided into three families of products: Hollow wall fixings, masonry fixings, and hooks, plants and frames. The 3D models are all glued and affixed manually.  

And according to Belzile, both consumers and retailers have found the displays very helpful:  

“Consumers love our displays because they can make the right choice for their needs, while visualising the final installation results. This tool is also a silent seller! Store associates also love the boards because they help consumers choose the right Cobra product, and it also serves as a memory aid.” 

Metex Director Daniel Bamford describes:  

“The Education Board shows the end customer how fixings work, and most importantly gives them the ability to make an informed purchase decision. The board has actual fixings in sections of material, showing exactly how they work within different wall materials, and how they grip the material to secure the item being hung.   

Store owners are delighted with the Education Board and have reported increased customer satisfaction.  Customers are now making a confident purchase and are saying that they have found the fixing that they wanted, rather than asking what fixing they need.” 

For those of you wanting to take a closer look, we’ll be with our DIY kits & education boards at the next Home Hardware Autumn Show on September 20^th!

Find out more about our Fixings education boards and retail kits HERE.