ITC Classmate's QR-led learning and omnichannel push resurfaces a June 2025 move to stay relevant beyond notebooks
Classmate extended its stationery play in June 2025 with interactive QR-code learning challenges, product adjacencies and wider omnichannel distribution. The ITC brand is pursuing a larger share of India's ₹16,500-crore paper-stationery market as digital learning reshapes student engagement and price sensitivity persists.
What happened
ITC’s Classmate is expanding beyond notebooks through QR-led learning content, stationery adjacencies and omnichannel distribution. The brand targets greater
Key facts
- Classmate launched in 2003
- Indian paper-based stationery market valued at Rs 16,500 crore
- ITC FMCG FY25 revenue stated as Rs 219,81 crore
- Classmate consumer spends exceeded Rs 1,000 crore in FY25
- 11 interactive QR-code learning challenges
Why this matters
Classmate’s ecosystem strategy makes partnerships or acquisitions in edtech content, student engagement platforms and adjacent school-supplies categories more strategically relevant than standalone notebook capacity.
What to watch
- QR scan rates, repeat engagement and conversion from digital challenge participation to subsequent product purchases.
- Classmate's share gains in non-notebook categories such as writing instruments, art materials and school accessories.
- Placement and search visibility on marketplaces, quick-commerce apps and large-format retail chains.
- Back-to-school and exam-season pricing actions by regional stationery brands and private labels.
- School or edtech partnerships that embed Classmate content into recurring student workflows.
- Evidence of premium notebook price realization versus volume-led growth.
- Bundle QR-linked challenges with notebooks, pens, art supplies and exam-prep stationery rather than treating codes as a standalone feature.
- Build school, teacher and edtech partnerships to make content curriculum-adjacent and increase repeat scanning.
- Use first-party QR interaction data to segment by grade, city and purchase occasion, then tailor marketplace and quick-commerce assortments.
- Expand value packs and entry-price formats to defend against regional brands while reserving premium formats for higher-income urban consumers.
- Prioritize rapid-replenishment channels for back-to-school, exam-season and last-minute stationery missions.