NEW DELHI: It’s this time of year when students gear up for the academic year ahead, even as retailers and stationery companies prime themselves for a surge in demand. Back-to-school shopping over April-June quarter is a peak period for stationery companies, such as, ITC and DOMS, laptop makers like Dell, Lenovo and Samsung and retailers like Reliance Retail’s Smart Bazaar stores, resulting in an uptick of five times the normal sales, industry experts said.
The spending category covers a wide range of items, including basics like pencils and paper as well as high-tech electronics, like laptops and tablets. Notebooks, school bags, lunch and geometry boxes, pencils and sharpeners fly off the shelves during this period, with the average ticket size estimated to be Rs 2,000.
A typical back-to-school basket during April to June is 10-14 notebooks, school bags, tiffin box, water bottles and ancillary products like pens and pencils. During rest of the year, there’s a fragmented purchase of mainly ancillary products.
For the country’s largest stationery player ITC, which markets Classmate: “Q1 and Q4 are the season quarters for notebooks, with a significant part of the year’s business done in these quarters,” the company’s divisional chief executive, education and stationery, Vikas Gupta, told TOI. Classmate notebooks are one of the largest selling categories for the company.
The domestic stationery and art materials market can be segmented into school, office and others, with the school segment accounting for more than half of the demand. Players with value-added products and/or with innovative and differentiated offerings have been able to fortify their market share, industry experts said.
Character series merchandise is popular among school-going kids. “Marvel and Avenger series character merchandise in the category in collaboration with Disney is the rage among school children at Reliance Retail’s Smart Bazaar stores this year. Along with attractive pricing and robust in-store promotions, the creation of combo packs – for instance, lunch and pencil boxes, water bottle sets – are among the many factors driving sales,” said a senior industry executive.
A Pen & Stationery Association of India official said, “The period, May to July is peak, with a sales spike of about 30% in stationery and writing instruments”. Overall the market size is around Rs 60,000 crore, of which over 40% is school consumption.
E-commerce platforms including Amazon and Flipkart, retail chains like Reliance Digital and Croma and companies including Dell, HP and Samsung, run offers for tablets and laptops during this period. Flipkart runs a ‘Back to Campus’ campaign in May-July, with deals across student-focused categories, including laptops, tablets, and accessories (printers, monitors etc), see a 2x spike in demand as compared to regular days.
A similar trend is visible for other student-related purchases. Says Manjari Singhal, head of business for FMCG and general merchandise, Flipkart : “As schools prepare to reopen in May, we have observed strong growth in student-related e-commerce purchases. Categories like school bags, books, stationery, pens, pencils, and school supplies compared to last year have witnessed over 2x growth. The convenience and wide selection offered by e-commerce is resonating strongly, with parents and students preparing for the new academic year. We expect this momentum to continue in the coming months as schools reopen and consumers gear up for the new season”.
The spending category covers a wide range of items, including basics like pencils and paper as well as high-tech electronics, like laptops and tablets. Notebooks, school bags, lunch and geometry boxes, pencils and sharpeners fly off the shelves during this period, with the average ticket size estimated to be Rs 2,000.
A typical back-to-school basket during April to June is 10-14 notebooks, school bags, tiffin box, water bottles and ancillary products like pens and pencils. During rest of the year, there’s a fragmented purchase of mainly ancillary products.
For the country’s largest stationery player ITC, which markets Classmate: “Q1 and Q4 are the season quarters for notebooks, with a significant part of the year’s business done in these quarters,” the company’s divisional chief executive, education and stationery, Vikas Gupta, told TOI. Classmate notebooks are one of the largest selling categories for the company.
The domestic stationery and art materials market can be segmented into school, office and others, with the school segment accounting for more than half of the demand. Players with value-added products and/or with innovative and differentiated offerings have been able to fortify their market share, industry experts said.
Character series merchandise is popular among school-going kids. “Marvel and Avenger series character merchandise in the category in collaboration with Disney is the rage among school children at Reliance Retail’s Smart Bazaar stores this year. Along with attractive pricing and robust in-store promotions, the creation of combo packs – for instance, lunch and pencil boxes, water bottle sets – are among the many factors driving sales,” said a senior industry executive.
A Pen & Stationery Association of India official said, “The period, May to July is peak, with a sales spike of about 30% in stationery and writing instruments”. Overall the market size is around Rs 60,000 crore, of which over 40% is school consumption.
E-commerce platforms including Amazon and Flipkart, retail chains like Reliance Digital and Croma and companies including Dell, HP and Samsung, run offers for tablets and laptops during this period. Flipkart runs a ‘Back to Campus’ campaign in May-July, with deals across student-focused categories, including laptops, tablets, and accessories (printers, monitors etc), see a 2x spike in demand as compared to regular days.
A similar trend is visible for other student-related purchases. Says Manjari Singhal, head of business for FMCG and general merchandise, Flipkart : “As schools prepare to reopen in May, we have observed strong growth in student-related e-commerce purchases. Categories like school bags, books, stationery, pens, pencils, and school supplies compared to last year have witnessed over 2x growth. The convenience and wide selection offered by e-commerce is resonating strongly, with parents and students preparing for the new academic year. We expect this momentum to continue in the coming months as schools reopen and consumers gear up for the new season”.
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