: Ken Research
Which come with innovative 3D covers, had witnessed increasing demand in the recent
years. The market size in terms of consumer expenditure on exercise notebook was
evaluated at INR ~ billion during FY2015 with the organized segment contributing
for ~% of the market revenue. Heavy capital investments in setting up manufacturing
facilities and expansion of retail outlets are a clear indication for the future prospects
of exercise notebooks in India in the coming years. Notably, Shachihata Inc. invested
USD 5 million in its Chennai plant in 2014. Kokuyo Group has already been there
since 2011 after purchasing a majority stake in Camlin which is a well known
stationery brand in India. The demand in the domestic market is huge in itself
whereas rapid improvement of the industrial infrastructure and strengthening of the
manufacturing capabilities has boosted the export prospect as well.
The export market for exercise notebooks in India was pegged at INR ~billion in FY2015
showcasing an exemplary CAGR of ~% over the period FY2010-2015. Besides, a
healthy domestic market, the export demand has been quite promising which has
resulted in a large number of local and national players aligning their businesses to
suit the foreign demand. In the export category of registers, account /note /order
/receipt books and other similar article, The US and UK have been the major
destination in FY2014 as well as FY2015. US accounted for an export value of worth
INR ~billion in FY2015. Manufacturers readily customize their portfolio and laying
out additional SKUs to cater to this growing market. Suppressed pricing is a major
factor that has stimulated the demand for Indian stationery items. USA and UK are
the two prominent export destinations for the market. These two countries offer high
value realization on notebook sales. Also, wide availability of modern retail trade and
better distribution network in these developed countries encourages export sales.
What have been the Government Regulations and Pricing Structure in the
Market?
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has specific guidelines pertaining to production
of exercise notebooks to be used in educational institutes. There are strict stipulations
with respect to notebook size, page denominations, binding, and ruling, quality of
paper and cover that the manufacturer needs to abide by for its products to be used in
institutes.
Specifications for Exercise Books for Schools Size: The size shall be ~ mm (C5). It may be obtained from ~ mm (RC l Standard)
getting ~ pages or from ~ mm (RC2 Standard) getting ~ pages per sheet respectively.
Denominations: Must be composed of 32, 48, 64, 80, 96, 112 and 128 pages
excluding the covers.
Binding: Exercise books of ~ pages need to have one stitch and ~ and ~ paged books
shall have two stitches on the spine of each exercise book. The size of stitch (staple)
need to be ~to ~mm in length.
Ruling: The ruling is done in accordance to the agreement between the purchaser
and the supplier. If required, the copy rule shall be done in blue color and the top and
side margin shall be in red color. For copy rule, the distance between horizontal lines
needs to be 9 mm and for margin, whether it is on the top or on the side, the distance
from the end shall be ~ mm. There shall be 21 blue lines on each page.
Cover: Colored cover paper of minimum ~ g/m2 substance shall be used.
Apart from specific BIS regulations for the exercise notebook specifications, there are
other general regulations pertaining to industrial, environmental, labour and
intellectual property laws which the manufacturers need to abide by in order to
operate in the market. The pricing structure for exercise notebooks is essentially
based upon the target group of customers that the brand is supposed to address. For
instance, most of the companys portfolio can be segmented into 3 broad offerings- a
general brand catering to the mass customer having a mid-level price, one premium
offering targeted at the relatively elite demography and a third category of products
addressed to the economically weaker section. The prices are set according to this
segregation wherein the cheapest brand of the company are marked ~% lesser than
the mass category. On the other hand, premium offerings carry a higher price of ~%
more than the mass products.
With respect to pricing differential, all the major companies like ITC, Camlin and
Sundaram have almost competitive pricing and there is a difference of not more than
INR ~ on similar range of products. For instance, a soft bound, unruled ~ cm, ~ page
Classmate notebook costs INR ~ while a notebook with similar specification from
Kokuyo Camlin cost INR ~.
Again, an ~ sized notebook, ~ page soft bound notebooks from Camlin which costs
INR ~ whereas Brijlaxmi charges INR ~ for a product with similar specification.
However, Navneet has a slightly deflated pricing compared to brands like ITC and
Camlin. This is because of the affordable product image of the brand category.
How is the Competition Structured in India Exercise Notebook Market?
The market for exercise notebooks in India is highly fragmented with a dominating
unorganized segment and only a handful of players having a regional or national
presence. Domination of low-cost Chinese and local brands has catapulted several
firms into constraining their supplies over a limited territory.
However, the gradual consumer shift towards brand acceptance and proliferation of online
retail has encouraged notebook manufacturers to explore and probably convert the
unorganized demand in their favor. As far as the competitive landscape is concerned, ITC,
with its collaborative links with SMEs coupled with a strong product portfolio is currently
the unanimous leader in the market. ITC had a ~% market share in FY2015 followed by
Navneet that churned out a ~% share in the organized manufacturers revenues from
exercise notebooks in India. Brijlaxmi Paper had the third highest share of ~% owing to its
phenomenal growth in FY2015 because of its heavily expanding retail network including
modern trade channels.
Company Profile of Major Players in the Market
The company profiles have extensive coverage of the key business indicators of the major
companies in the market. The parameters include detailed company overview, the
business USP, business strategies implemented by the firms, developments and future
plans. Other quantitative performance indicators like production capacity, distribution
network, SKUs, split of Retail/Institutional sales, sales by major regions, turnover,
margins are also mentioned in company profiles. Key financial ratios like PBIDTM,
PBITM, PBDTM, ROCE, RONW and CPM has also been mentioned. Company genesis
and other key factor have also been showcased in the company profile section.
Source:
https://www.kenresearch.com/consumer-products-and-retail/home-a
nd-office-furnishings/india-exercise-notebook-market-report/411
21-95.html
Contact:
Ken Research
Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing & Communications
Ankur@kenresearch.com
+91-9015378249
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