Stationery Industry

Stationery Industry: A Road Ahead

Small and Medium Enterprises play a vital role for the growth of Indian economyby contributing 45% of industrial output, 40% of exports, 42 million employments,create one million jobs every year and produce more than 8000 quality productsfor the Indian and international markets. As a result, MSMEs are today exposed togreater opportunities for expansion and diversification across the sectorsThe emergence of new technologies has a mixed impact on various industries.With new technology and falling prices for computers, printers and software arereducing the cost of business mail communication; on the other hand, focus oneducation by governments of various developing countries has increased thedemand of stationary and paper products substantially.

Stationery Industry is a very heterogeneous group of business usually associatedwith the Schools, Collages, and Office and plays a very crucial role in working ofany organization across the globe. It includes Paper stationery which comprises ofa vast collection of products like exercise books, note books, stitch, glued & tapepads, refill pads, flap over pads, subject books, plastic cover books etc. The hugegreeting card market, autograph books, party invites etc, is also a part of thissegment.

Paper and paper related products are tremendously gaining demand in the market.Out of which paper stationery market over the years has gained immensepopularity in the school and office segment throughout the world. Revolution forthese products has come to birth from the past few year’s majorly in developingnations and it's having immense value in terms of export and import.It is expected that Stationery industry has a flourishing future in it's coming yearsin India and over a period is estimated to grow at 10 to 15% p.a. To achieve thisobjective, one can actually see that how acceptance of Internet technology hasopened plethora of opportunities of sourcing the desired supplier in any part of theworld. The manufacturers of various countries including India, China, Indonesiaetc have started building new product strategies, which helps in reducing theiroverall cost without compromising on quality thus producing a good qualityproduct at competitive price.

Falling under the category of Small and Medium Enterprises in majorly most ofthe countries, this sector has lot to offer in terms of employment, tax revenues, itcan be an important source of new innovative products, extensive local knowledgeof resources, and can be a major service provider to the larger organizations.However, this sector like other sectors have certain bottlenecks which hinder thegrowth of this sector like Burdensome regulatory frameworks, Lack of taxincentives and subsidies, Absence of investor-friendly environment, Lack of accessto finance, Lack of capacity-building programs and inadequate provision ofvocational training etc.
Indian stationery Industry: Opportunities and Challenges

In the international arena India is providing more scope for development andtrends; however, with excellent quality, the Indian products are very much indemand. The Indian SME’s associated with stationery market has witnessedtremendous dynamic changes. In the last decade the Indian market has increasedvarieties to be exported in markets and has produced big market percentage.Indian Paper Stationery Industry, which is a part of the huge and scattered Indianstationery Industry, has been going through tremendous alteration in recent years.Despite fierce competition from neighboring markets, its scattered nature and theconstantly changing trends, the paper stationery industry makers continue to makeevery effort, due to which the fruitful results are coming slowly and steadily.Indian companies have learnt that innovation, performance and versatility are thekey area to be focused upon. Taking the points under consideration, thebusinessmen are now researching and developing new products, as the market isnow more of consumer oriented which is always looking for cost effective prices.This is because of the attitude of buyer which is now ready to spend more if areliable product is offered to him.

With seasonal export market which stays from April-June major importingcountries like U.S.A., Australia, Canada, major African countries and Middle Eastare the ones which accept Indian designs and style comfortably. With extremeprecautions, and the good quality products offered and new marketing strategiesare followed, the government has also come out with various incentives for SME’s.Particularly for stationary industry if we quote would be the educationenhancement schemes which are giving growth to this sector. The Indianstationery market is also influenced by macroeconomic development, nationalincome and lasts but not the least the ever-growing Indian population.The Indian stationery Industry is highly unorganized and the organized players areestimated to be less than the unorganized sector players due to which unorganizedstationery players are expanded throughout the industry and controls majormarket share.

However, Indian stationary industry is facing major competition from the Importerespecially Chinese manufacturers are the most competitive among all the otherworld market players as they have an advantage of mass production capacity,aggressive favorable government export policy, simplified low taxation and welldeveloped infrastructure.
Stationery Industry: Introspection Time

Indian businessmen involved in the business of stationary items needs to work onproper research and development of the sector. Design, Colors, Quality, Themes,reaching the right partners and to find out new markets for their products shouldbe on their agenda. Government at their level is taking initiatives; however, tobring in a spurt in the trade there is a need to focus on providing assistance tobusinessmen for buying good machinery, necessary infrastructure should beprovided, to enhance export activities, workshops, conferences and trainingprograms should be conducted at state and national level. Logistics is also a keyconcern that goods should reach on time which helps in maintaining a relationshipwith various customers across the globe.