Category Update: What’s cool in school? Pentel & Research

The educational supplies sector is a huge global industry that’s expanding in large parts of the world. This is particularly prevalent in emerging economies which are devoting increasing budgets to schools, seeing investment in their children’s education as the key to future success and prosperity. 

Nowhere epitomises this phenomenon better than China where the government focus on this category is huge. Coupled with the sheer volume of students in the country, it means this market is already massive and growing fast. The number of foreigners wanting to study in China has also been rising quickly, with South Korea, Japan, the US, Vietnam and Thailand the biggest source countries.

Budgetary constraints

In developed western democracies where budgets are being squeezed the opportunities are not as enormous, but they do still exist. For UK wholesaler VOW, for example, educational supplies was the fastest-growing sub-category in 2017 and this has continued right into this year. “We expect ongoing growth throughout 2018 and beyond as we become more adept at selling in this market,” says Simon McLoughlin, Category Director for Traditional Products at VOW.

“The provision of classroom products builds on our wider traditional business supplies range. However, it’s also important to remember that newer technology such as webcams are now just as essential in the modern classroom as a wide range of poster paint colours.”

Writing instruments manufacturer Pentel, meanwhile, reports modest growth in a market that’s under severe pressure due to budgetary cuts, according to its Director of Sales UK and Ireland Graham Craik: “Although there are challenging times ahead, we remain optimistic that buyers looking to deliver the best value for their schools will spend wisely on products they can rely on.”

In Australia, a new study published by Penfold Research reveals that the education supplies market is growing well ahead of the overall office products market. Growth of 2.8% in 2017 is set to move higher over the coming two years, with students in schools maintaining steady usage of traditional products, but with a healthy parallel increase in technology areas. Here, as in other parts of the world, the digital revolution is driving major changes in the education system and with it changes in the product mix that is required.

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