The result, experts ominously predict, will be littered on the streets in the not-so-distant future. The expertise to win it in the digital space, is also conspicuously absent in most. Yes, ecommerce sites have proliferated in the last two years, but are they enough to fill the void created by the sad demise of the friendly neighbourhood stationer? As seasoned retailers from the digital space (not necessarily from the stationery trade) point out, at least some of the new ecommerce sites that have come up, have got their numbers wrong and are yet to deploy enough resources, or merely exist long enough, to win the loyalty of the customers. Point is, the pandemic has hit the industry and hit it bloody hard.įor one, brick and mortar stores that were, before the pandemic, just about eking out a living as pen and ink sellers, have mostly gone under. The super optimists among us think that the trend will lead to many new users getting converted and become long term fountain pen fanatics, but that is beside the point. Yes, demand for fountain pens have gone up, some say, through the roof, as many people, forced indoors, had taken them up to while away their time, to keep depression at bay. That hardly any new blood has been introduced into the system over the last so many years, at least not enough to make a significant difference, is another reason why the segment largely continues with the mentality of retailers, often losing sight of the woods for the trees – that too, those that have convinced themselves to look beyond the village boundaries.įor such an “industry”, the pandemic has literally been a mixed bag. Competitors being what they are and the laws not offering the kind of refuge that small businesses would ideally like to enjoy, one cannot blame them for being what they are, but the fact remains. Besides, most fountain pen operations are closely-held, family-run enterprises that are extremely chary of divulging the details, any details, about their businesses. I am deliberately not using the term “insignificant” more out of sheer solidarity with the fraternity, than for anything else. Yes, to some like us they are of perennial interest, but we represent the exceptions, not the rule. For one, the fountain pen industry (if at all, it can be called an “industry”, that is), is too small, too scattered to boot, and generally unorganised, to even warrant any attention. Honestly, there isn’t a ready answer that I can rattle off, for there is none.Īnd there are reasons why the entire eco-system is muddled the way it is. I am often accosted with the question, “How has the pandemic affected the fountain pen industry in India?”. Fountain pen industry and the effect of the pandemic thereon – are things really as hunky-dory as they are being made out to be?
0 kommentar(er)
