Did you ever imagine that one day you would be shopping for funeral services online? Probably not. But we now live in a world where e-commerce has left its mark on every possible industry, including the funeral industry.

A niche funeral industry rakes in more than $20 billion each year while serving an average of 2.4 million funerals in the U.S. alone. A typical funeral in the U.S. costs anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 — a very high cost, considered unfortunate but unavoidable.

But e-commerce is here to change that. In this blog, we will have a look at the factors driving e-commerce growth in the funeral industry.

Industry Overview

Before we get to how e-commerce is revolutionizing the funeral industry, let us have a quick look at the industry by numbers (in the U.S.).

Source: PBS and NFDA

Factors Driving E-commerce Adoption

There are multiple factors driving e-commerce adoption in the funeral industry.

1) Rising Costs and Lack of Transparency

• The average cost of a funeral in the U.S. is between $8,000 – $10,000
• Cremation rates are rising fast and nearly 50% of Americans choose cremation. In 2010, one-third of those who chose cremation said cost was a primary factor.
• A casket that sells for $1300 and above at a funeral home will typically wholesale for about $325.

Thanks to this and lack of transparency in the industry, people had started to see undertakers as salesmen. Because of this, people now prefer planning funerals in front of the computer. This is exactly where an e-commerce store can help.

An e-commerce store will not only bring transparency to the entire process but will also enable businesses to offer services at a much lower cost.

The pioneer setting a trend as far as costs and pricing are concerned is the funeral services company Willow and Werth.

2) Increasing Popularity of E-commerce and Consumer Preference

• According to eMarketer, global retail e-commerce sales in 2016 were around $1.915 trillion and expected to reach $4 trillion by 2020 (eMarketer)
• 224 million shoppers in the U.S. alone spent nearly $385 billion online in 2016 (Business Insider)

This clearly points towards the growing popularity of e-commerce.

3) Globalization

• 87% of consumers associate giving sympathy gifts & flowers as an expression of love and care
• 80% of e-commerce sympathy gift orders are from out-of-town families

(source – FuneralOne)

4) Difficulty in Finding and Comparing Services

“Our idea is that there are many people who feel that the undertaker is, in fact, a salesman. They prefer to plan funerals themselves in front of a computer rather than attending multiple meetings.”

“When you visit casket dealers online, you can look at something repeatedly without pressure.” — Jay Kravetz, editor of Death Care Business (New York Times)

5) The Need for Personalized Services

During the phase of mourning the loss of a loved one, people must arrange many services and products. An e-commerce platform simplifies this process by allowing customers to select everything in one place.

In summary, rising costs, lack of transparency, growing e-commerce popularity, changing demographics, and personalization needs make a strong case for businesses in the funeral industry to drive customer experience using an e-commerce store .