There has been a lot of research in the past couple of years about who the “Consumers of Funerals” are.  There’s been a lot of great data published —  some of which is good news for Death Care and some not so good news for Death Care.

I’ve also suggested that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) not publish a new “Funeral Rule” until they look at and get a very good idea of how the consumer purchases “Death Care” in today’s world.

Things change over time and in my interactions with consumers and Death Care professionals I see a trend of how people purchase Death Care that has changed since I worked every day in the business.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

When it is broke down, I’ve always seen Death Care purchased in the following fashion.  The purchase of Disposition, the purchase of Celebration, and the purchase of Memorialization.  Typically the consumer choice was burial, church service, cemetery in that order for Disposition, Celebration, and Memorialization. . . . . and, all three were, most of the time, purchased and arranged during one post-death arrangement at a traditional funeral home.

Because of how it was all done at the funeral home few of us recognized the distinct purchases of Disposition, Celebration, and Memorialization.  In today’s world, the segmentation is easily seen.

I clearly see the Death Care tri-metric purchase choices of Disposition, Celebration, and Memorialization being done by consumers at this point in time.  Many times in today’s Death Care purchase not all of those purchases are even consummated.  . .and even if they are, sometimes they are not all done by the traditional funeral home.

Matter of fact, a consumer can go through the thought process and complete the purchases they choose without ever using a traditional funeral home.  As is happening a lot in today’s world, Disposition may be carried out by an online cremation company and the consumer may forego Celebration and Memorialization or use non-funeral home providers for those services.

I also don’t think it is too different than other parts of our daily lives that have became segmented.  For many consumers, the daily newspaper has dropped off of its perch and people get their news from “segmented” places — most of the time online.  And, cable television is fast falling out of favor and being replaced by a consumer’s choice of “segmented” streaming options.

A lot of this change has been driven by the fact that the necessary information for purchasing is easily available at our fingertips by simply typing on a keyboard.  It used to be that you “needed” to go to the funeral home to learn about pricing and options.  That’s not so anymore.

Today, even with large dollar amount purchases consumers are comfortable purchasing online.  About 3% of automobiles are purchased completely online with about 23% ordered online with some follow-up contact at the dealership. . . The U.S. Chamber of Commerce states that 43% of people prefer to shop mostly online.

The Point —  There always has to be a Disposition (of the body) while Celebrations and Memorializations are optional purchases.  And, I believe that as we move forward there will be more niche operators chasing the Death Care business. . . . Niche operators like venues, funeral planners, outside the funeral home financial preneed planners, and Disposition operators like those operating with online crematories, alkaline hydrolysis, and natural organic reduction.

I’m expecting all of these niche businesses to have some type of online presence putting their best face forward to potential Death Care consumers. . . . and they will do that at a price point that may be less than traditional bricks and mortar operators can charge.

It’s my opinion that the “Customer Journey” to purchase Death Care segments will become, especially for the awareness or informational stage, more and more internet centric with all three phases of the Death Care purchase.

As these niche operators come more and more into the market are you ready for this competition and do you have a plan to acquire “Death Care consumers” to use your services rather than someone elses?

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