ITC’s Classmate bets on QR-enabled learning to keep stationery relevant in digital-first India
Classmate is expanding beyond notebooks with QR-linked learning games and adjacent categories, using ITC’s paper integration and omnichannel reach to compete in India’s price-sensitive stationery market.
What happened
ITC’s Classmate is pursuing digital-hybrid stationery growth through QR learning games and expanded categories, backed by integrated paper supply and
Key facts
- 2003 launch
- Rs 16,500 crore paper-based stationery market
- FY25 FMCG revenue of Rs 21,981 crore
- Classmate consumer spends exceeded Rs 1,000 crore
- 11 QR-enabled interactive challenges
- NEP 2020
Why this matters
Classmate’s digital-hybrid push creates partnership opportunities with edtech, children’s content, and gamified-learning platforms that can accelerate capability building beyond core stationery.
What to watch
- QR scan-to-repeat-use rates, content completion rates, and redemption or reward participation.
- Whether QR-enabled SKUs sustain a price premium and show higher reorder velocity than standard notebooks.
- Competitor launches from Navneet, DOMS, Reynolds, regional brands, and retailer private labels.
- Expansion of content into vernacular languages, board-specific learning, or partnerships with edtech, schools, and educators.
- Evidence that ITC uses engagement data to broaden Classmate into higher-margin learning, writing, and creative categories.
- Parent, school, or regulator scrutiny of child-data collection, advertising, and screen-time claims.
- Launch grade- and curriculum-aligned QR content with regional-language options to improve relevance and repeat scans.
- Create collectible challenge series, rewards, and seasonal school campaigns that connect notebook purchases to recurring digital engagement.
- Use QR interaction data to segment demand by city, age group, and retailer, informing localized assortments and adjacent-category launches.
- Bundle QR-enabled notebooks with Classmate pens, art supplies, and school kits to increase basket size and reduce reliance on notebook margins.
- Strengthen privacy safeguards and parent-facing messaging, limiting reputational risk around child data and digital screen-time concerns.