ITC’s Classmate adds QR-led learning to keep notebooks relevant in digital-first classrooms
Classmate is pairing its stationery range with 11 QR-enabled interactive learning challenges, using ITC’s paper supply chain and omnichannel reach to defend relevance as Indian education shifts toward hybrid and screen-based learning.
What happened
ITC’s Classmate is expanding its stationery portfolio and embedding QR-led learning games to stay relevant as education digitises. The brand leverages ITC’s
Key facts
- 2003 launch
- Rs 16,500 crore paper-based stationery market
- FY25 FMCG revenue of Rs 219,81 crore
- Classmate consumer spends exceeded Rs 1,000 crore
- 11 QR-enabled interactive challenges
- NEP 2020
Why this matters
Classmate’s hybrid-learning pivot makes edtech content, classroom engagement platforms, and youth-focused digital learning partners attractive collaboration or acquisition targets to deepen its paper-to-learning ecosystem.
What to watch
- Whether Classmate discloses scan rates, repeat engagement, completion rates or campaign-linked sales uplift.
- Expansion of QR content into regional languages, curriculum boards or teacher-facing formats.
- New partnerships with edtech platforms, schools, education publishers or child-safe digital-content providers.
- Competitor launches of QR-enabled notebooks, AR learning aids or app-linked stationery.
- Evidence that retailers allocate additional shelf space or that Classmate commands a price premium for interactive ranges.
- Regulatory or parental scrutiny around child data collection, advertising exposure and screen-time implications.
- ITC linking the initiative to its broader digital, loyalty or consumer-data infrastructure.
- Expand from 11 challenges into curriculum-aligned, grade- and language-specific content tied to high-use subjects such as maths, science and English.
- Build QR-linked rewards, progress tracking and repeat-use mechanics that convert one-time scans into sustained engagement across the school year.
- Partner with educators, edtech firms and school networks to validate content quality and embed challenges in homework or classroom activity.
- Use first-party engagement data to segment by grade, geography and language, then tailor notebook designs, retail promotions and back-to-school campaigns.
- Bundle interactive features across adjacent Classmate products, including pens, art materials, exam stationery and planners, to lift basket size.
- Maintain offline usability and low-data access modes so the proposition reaches students beyond high-connectivity urban markets.