Indian Stationery market is growing and holds a tremendous potential. There are about 240 million students followed by the big office segment fueling this growth. Market is expected to surge on account of growing youth population, literacy rate and increasing number of schools/ offices. The improved standard of living as well as shift in focus from inexpensive to premium quality products on account of rapidly burgeoning economy are some of the crucial factors which would drive the demand for stationery products. Further, growing e-commerce industry in the country is also contributing to rising sales of stationery products.
With its continuous impetuous on improving the quality of stationery products, Indian manufacturers have been able to make a mark in the international markets.
No wonder it has attracted the attention of some of the best-known brands like BIC, Newell, Pilot and Kokuyo to get into different kinds of tie ups ranging from joint ventures to complete buyouts to licensing arrangements. Also, there are formidable local players Hindustan Pencils, ITC, Ballarpur Industries, Navneet, Pidilite and JK Paper who have eager to further consolidate their reach in the global markets.
Big Global Retailers, including the largest on the Planet have ramped up their sourcing from Indian manufacturers in the recent years, making it a formidable second largest hub after China. What works in favour of some of these Indian manufacturers is that fact unlike China they are not just a set of vendors manufacturing for others, but they have also been fine marketers hawking their own brands with a wide spanning geographic footprint. This enables them not just to cater to the brief given by the buyers; but also add their own knowledge of emerging trends etc to “co – create “ the right assortment fulfilling the market needs, be it strategic in nature or topical.
The younger generation of these entrepreneurs armed with the right academic qualifications are quite willing to adapt to the changing market realities and are open to adopt the necessary capabilities required to remain relevant to these ever-evolving dynamics.
Keeping abreast to the industrial development there are product ranges available with Eco-range from the recycling material. Also, the usage of inputs which are anti-microbial and anti-bacterial to attain products which are the need of the hour with the ongoing pandemic and growing awareness on the hygiene side of the products.
It’s a proven fact that India makes better writing instruments than China and the edge that China has had was / is only coming from its pricing which is purely attributed to the compromise done on quality. It’s however a little-known fact that India is the pioneer of hybrid (low viscosity) ink which is used by the largest selling pens globally. And also that till recently there was not even a single ball point tip manufacturing unit in China and it would import the same from India in very large quantity Backward integration is another hallmark of Indian manufacturers who are now making all the necessary ingredients like ink, filter, nibs etc in-house; giving them a complete control on supply chain and quality.