ITC Classmate's QR-led learning games resurface as stationery brand's push to stay relevant in digital-first India
ITC's Classmate extended its notebooks-and-stationery proposition with QR-based eduGAMES Infinity back in June 2025, pairing physical products with interactive learning content. The move aims to protect relevance in India's ₹16,500 crore paper stationery market as hybrid learning and regional competition reshape demand.
What happened
ITC Classmate is expanding stationery into digital learning through QR-based eduGAMES, while using ITC paper integration and omnichannel distribution. The brand
Key facts
- Paper-based stationery market valued at Rs 16,500 crore
- ITC FMCG FY25 revenue of Rs 219,81 crore
- Classmate consumer spends exceeded Rs 1,000 crore
- Classmate launched in 2003
- eduGAMES Infinity offers 11 interactive challenges
Why this matters
The strategy positions Classmate as a potential hybrid learning-platform partner or acquisition target, with QR content creating adjacency opportunities in edtech, regional-language learning and school-focused digital services.
What to watch
- Evidence of repeat QR scans per user beyond initial product activation.
- Whether Classmate reports higher notebook repeat rates, premium mix gains or market-share expansion in back-to-school periods.
- New school, edtech, publisher or education-content partnerships.
- Regional-language rollout and expansion across grades or product categories.
- Competitor launches from Navneet, DOMS, local notebook makers or digital learning platforms.
- Consumer or regulatory scrutiny around data collection, advertising and screen exposure for children.
- Signs that QR-enabled SKUs command a price premium or require deeper trade discounts to move.
- Bundle eduGAMES Infinity access with high-volume notebooks, exam pads and back-to-school multipacks to drive scan scale.
- Add regional-language and grade-specific content, especially for non-metro markets where Classmate faces strong local stationery competition.
- Build partnerships with schools, tutors and edtech providers to make QR activities curriculum-linked rather than purely promotional.
- Use scan data to segment users by grade, geography and content preference, while maintaining clear parental consent and child-data safeguards.
- Extend the platform into rewards, printable worksheets, handwriting practice, exam preparation and ITC cross-brand offers.
- Competitors are likely to introduce their own QR content, character licenses or lower-price promotional bundles.