ITC’s Classmate resurfaces June move to use QR learning and omnichannel reach to stay relevant beyond notebooks
Resurfacing a June 2025 initiative, Classmate paired its nationwide stationery distribution with QR-enabled eduGAMES Infinity content and an integrated paper supply chain, seeking to defend relevance as digital learning reshapes India’s ₹16,500-crore paper-stationery market.
What happened
ITC’s Classmate is using omnichannel distribution, QR-enabled learning games and its integrated paper supply chain to sustain relevance in India’s Rs
Key facts
- India's paper-based stationery market is valued at Rs 16,500 crore
- ITC FMCG segment FY25 revenue: Rs 219,81 crore
- Classmate consumer spending exceeds Rs 1,000 crore
- Classmate launched in 2003
- eduGAMES Infinity offers 11 interactive challenges
Why this matters
Classmate’s content layer creates potential partnership targets across edtech, curriculum, gaming and school-distribution ecosystems to deepen its learning proposition beyond notebooks.
What to watch
- Repeat-scan rates and time spent per QR user after the initial purchase period.
- Whether eduGAMES Infinity gains curriculum, school-board, tutoring, or educator partnerships.
- Premium notebook sales growth versus the overall stationery category and versus low-cost regional brands.
- Competitor adoption of QR learning, AR, reward, or content-linked stationery formats.
- Back-to-school bundle penetration across e-commerce, quick commerce, and organized retail.
- Pulp and paper-price movements that test whether integrated supply-chain advantages translate into stable pricing or margin expansion.
- Evidence that Classmate uses QR interactions for CRM, loyalty, parental opt-ins, or targeted replenishment offers.
- Regulatory or child-data privacy scrutiny affecting collection of student engagement data.
- Expand QR content from games into grade- and subject-specific micro-learning, revision tools, and parent dashboards.
- Use scan data to segment demand by city, school board, age group, and purchase season, improving regional assortment and retail replenishment.
- Bundle notebooks with pens, art supplies, exam-prep content, and back-to-school kits to raise basket size across general trade, modern trade, and e-commerce.
- Pursue school, tutoring-chain, and edtech partnerships that make QR content curriculum-adjacent rather than purely promotional.
- Introduce tiered product architecture: mass notebooks with basic QR access and premium lines with richer learning, personalization, or rewards.
- Leverage integrated paper sourcing to protect availability and margins during pulp-price volatility while selectively funding digital content.