US Death Care Market - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2018-2023

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

The US Death Care market size will reach USD 68 billion by 2023, growing a CAGR of 45 during the forecast period. The uncertainty of life and death marks as a unique characteristic on which hinges the demand in the US death care market. The predominance of traditional standards that witnesses the whole embalmed body in an open casket, combined with prayers among others, is still a large part of the funeral services in the US. The industry is also witnessing the emergence of many non-traditional services, from unique services that enable pressing cremains into diamonds to green burials. The heightened interactivity, personalization, and expanding the number of benefits that commemorate life is primarily driving the growth of the market in the US. The simplicity of funeral homes is gaining immense popularity in the US.

The rise in discoveries and consumers warming up to new methods of body disposition, such as water cremation and body composting, is creating new opportunities for service providers in the US. The increasing risks of terminal illness and incidences of work-related stress diseases drive the need for funeral services in the US. The rising requirements that include trained staff, the reveal of prices, and flexibility while performing services and delivering products boost the revenues in the market. The sensitivity of the situation and the grim nature of the business is encouraging the vendors to work on the dynamic of the right balance between value and price, to cause as little inconvenience to consumers as possible during the time of grief. The prevalence of various customs, traditions, social standing, location, personal feeling, and other influences affect the landscape of the US death care market.

Several companies are either developing an existing model/blueprint by improving marketing, products, and distribution methods or bringing onboard innovations in the US market. The rise in the number of GoFundMe and Kickstarter campaigns that are crowdfunding funeral costs is becoming a trend, especially among cases where the death was sudden. 

US DEATH CARE MARKET - DYNAMICS

The pet loss and aftermarket are gaining immense traction and boosting the revenues in the US death care market. According to the APPA, In 2017, US consumers spent nearly $70 million on their pets. The increasing levels of humanization of pet care, such as luxury boarding facilities, pet salons, pricey organic pet food, dog-based magazines, and portraits, drive the demand for pet crematories in the US. Cremation is a popular choice of consumers in the US. The consumers are demanding personalized urns, delightful memorials, and high-end columbarium niches. Several green cemeteries have demarcated a separate division for pets in the US market. Various consumers are also looking for alternatives to the traditional processes to preserve the remains of their animals. For instance, through freeze-drying or taxidermy and even articulate partial or full skeletons – there is a meticulous process of preservation that keeps the owner close to his pet, in life and death. Various vendors are introducing different types of services, specifically for pets in the US death care market.

US DEATH CARE MARKET - SEGMENTATION

This market research report includes a detailed segmentation of the market by operations, arrangements, and products and services.

MARKET BY OPERATIONS

Funeral homes branch out services to attract consumers and maintain financial stability in the US death care market.

The US death care market by operations is segmented into funeral homes and cemeteries. Funeral homes dominated more than half of the market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of around 2% during the forecast period. Funeral homes offer various services that include memorial and burial products, embalm or prep bodies for burial or cremation, facilities for memorial services, and deal with the required paperwork and activities for various aspects of the grave and burial process, arrange for staff and vehicles for graveside and funeral services as per the client’s requirements. Embalming and chemical conservation is slowly becoming obsolete in the US. Funeral homes to stay afloat are brunching to other services such as birthday party venues and weddings. They seek to add more revenue offsetting the losses from the trending simple, less expensive funerals. The introduction of new adaptations that include reception rooms, kitchen space and equipment, adequate parking, and banquet spaces will drive the growth of the US death care market.

The US market is shifting, and there is an upward trend in demand for funerals. The service providers offer more niches for urns in benches, columns, and columbaria for those who want a funeral ritual even when opting for cremation in the US death care market.

MARKET BY ARRANGEMENT

The sale of perpetual-care trusts and merchandise is driving the demand in the US death care market.

The arrangement segment in the US death care market is classified into at-need and pre-need. Pre-need arrangements are the fastest-growing segment in the US market, growing at a CAGR of around 2% during the forecast period. The pre-need arrangement usually consists of cemeteries, mortuaries, and insurance companies before the occurrence of death. Pre-need arrangements provide the benefit to a client to alleviate the financial burden and stress of funeral arrangements on his/her closed ones post-death. The revenue from the sale is put into perpetual-care trusts and merchandise and held onto till the products and services are delivered. The increasing popularity of packaged funeral services such as cemetery fees, caskets, burial plots, and other services drives the growth of this segment in the US death care market.

The increase in the number of injuries related to firearms (including suicides, homicides, legal intervention, unintentional firearm deaths, and firearm deaths of undetermined intent) propels the need for at-need arrangements. The rise in the number of sudden deaths is one of the primary drivers of these services in the US death care market.

MARKET BY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

The growth of consumer-direct caskets via the warehouse and retailers is gaining traction in the US death care market.

The US death care market by products and services is divided into caskets & vaults, facility rentals, embalming & cosmetic preparation, urns, etc. The caskets & vaults segment occupied the largest market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of more than 1% during the forecast period. The rise in the number of consumer-direct caskets via the warehouse and retail stores is propelling the growth of this segment. The growing need for cremation caskets, rental caskets, and green burial caskets will contribute to the growing sales in this segment. Funeral homes are also beginning to enable previewing caskets on their site to deliver better to their customers in the market. Value addition in the form of customization is gaining immense popularity in the US market. Vendors are inserting panels that can include dates and names of a loved one, or offering a kit of the panel and matching decals, which allows the creation of tons of different options in each casket model in the US death care market.

The growing use of destinations such as sports venues, workplaces, a foreign country, or the banks of a water body in place of facilities drives the need for facility rentals. The use of eco-friendly urns is made from rapidly renewable wood, clay, and salt, other environmentally- conscious ones are made from recycled materials plastics will transform the US death care market.

KEY VENDOR ANALYSIS AND MARKET SHARE

The US death care market is highly fragmented and consists of three categories, such as funeral homes, cemetery owners and operators, and producers of memorial and burial products. The consolidation of the players is intensifying the competition in the US market. The four major players, namely, StoneMor, Carriage Services, NorthStar Memorial Group, and Hillenbrand, control the majority of the US market share. The entrant of e-commerce giants such as Walmart and Amazon, offering products at low prices, will impact competition in the US market. The vendors offer packaged services to attract the maximum number of consumers in the US death care market.

The major vendors in the US death care market are:

• Service Corporation International (SCI)
• Hillenbrand
• StoneMor
• Carriage Services
• NorthStar Memorial Group

The US Death Care market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry analysis with revenue and forecast insights for the following segments:

By Operations

• Funeral Homes
• Cemeteries

By Arrangement

• At-Need
• Pre-Need

By Products & Services

• Caskets & Vaults
• Facility Rentals
• Embalming & Cosmetic Preparation
• Urns
• Others