How an 80-year-old publishing house is reinventing itself with technology

In the next two-three years, around 30 per cent of S. Chand's group revenues will come from digital products, asserts its MD Himanshu Gupta

Publishing giant S. Chand & Co, known for its educational books, has come up with a mobile learning app called Learnflix, which not only strengthens its footprint in the digital space, but also makes 

it adaptive to the post-Covid world. 

Launched three months ago, and targeted at students from the 6th  to the 10th grade, Learnflix is accessible on android and iOS operating systems and also on internet browsers. It has already had around 60,000 downloads and more than 15,000 subscriptions, as demand for digital learning rose exponentially during the coronavirus pandemic-induced lockdown.

Learnflix carries certain unique features that sets it apart from other learning apps available in the market. Firstly, the app has e-books, which most other ed-tech players don’t provide. Moreover, it follows a spiral learning approach, which is based on the premise that a student learns more about a subject each time the topic is reviewed or encountered. Also, the app uses predictive analytics to understand a student’s weak areas and then prescribes remedial measures in the form of further reading.  
 

However, this is not the first digital product launched by the 80-year-old publishing house. 

S. Chand & Co’s digital transformation started a decade ago when it began to provide CD-ROMs with its books, which contained the e-version of the book. “Over the last decade, we have launched many digital offerings in our bid to provide quality content at an affordable price,” says managing director Himanshu Gupta.

In 2008, the company set up a joint venture with US-based publishing house Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH). S. Chand eventually bought out HMH’s stake and renamed the company DS Digital. Over the years, this digital wing has come up with various products to keep the firm competitive in this emerging segment.

“We realised four years back that there was not a single player which was providing end-to-end solutions (to students). So, we decided to provide a complete curriculum solution called Mylestone,” says Vinay Sharma, business head, Digital, at S. Chand & Co. 

“This is the smart curriculum solution, which has both physical and digital components, comprising workbook, digital content, assessment content, a teachers’ app, students’ app and parents’ app. This is also supported by training and support, which is available both online and offline,” Sharma adds. 

Under the Mylestone umbrella, students can scan the QR code on an app called myStudygear and get access to video content. The app also keeps parents aware of their children’s progress. It also provides interactive, gamified quizzes with real-time analytics as well as educational videos for self-learning.

Currently, the company’s offerings reach around 45,000 schools, covering around 50 million students. 

“Our data analytics team analyses the user data on how much time is spent on which subject, which questions are being answered wrong by most students, and so on. Based on these patterns, we improve our content,” says Sharma. 

In order to tap the pre-school market, S. Chand has tied up with PDM Inc., a leading digital education company in South Korea, which led to the launch of a product named NuriNori last year. Focused on early childhood education, NuriNori provides customised materials and tools for teachers.

The company has also collaborated with various start-ups to develop gamified content. It has invested in Smartivity, a Delhi-based startup, which is providing it with augmented reality (AR) based learning products. Similarly, it has tied up with online test preparation platform “testbook” for building specific solutions for students appearing for competitive exams.

“As a company, we are collaborating with a lot of start-ups to enhance the user experience of our content. At the same time, we always have a mission to provide quality content at an affordable price,” says Gupta, who claims that their products are much cheaper than those by other ed-tech firms. For example, Learnflix is priced at Rs 2,000 per annum for students of classes 6 to 8 and Rs 2,500 per annum for those of 9 and 10.  

S. Chand’s market strategy is also different from most other Indian ed tech companies. While most ed-tech firms take the B2C (business to consumer) approach, S Chand follows the B2B (business to business) model, relying on its relationships with schools and channel partners. “...we will play to our strength and that’s where B2B comes in,” says Gupta.

As the publishing major transforms itself digitally to suit the consumption pattern of users, it is also eyeing higher revenues from its new age offerings. “Print majorly contributes to our revenues. But in the next 2-3 years, around 30 per cent of our group revenues will come from digital products,” asserts Gupta.