In an article published InDailey (Bension Siebert, Wednesday February 27, 2019), it was reported that Australia’s largest funeral company has said “soft market conditions, namely, a lower number of deaths” impacted its bottom line 2018, but it has told investors the market is “normalising” and more Australians will probably die this year.

The article also reported that InvoCare advised shareholders that, “Operating results for 2018 were impacted by soft market conditions, namely, fewer deaths”. According to InvoCare, a ‘dip in funeral volumes’ was due to an effective vaccination program and an unusually mild winter flu season, but “expectation is for the number of deaths to return to long term trend”.

In our blog, 6 August 2018 – ‘Avoid Your Local Funeral Director This Winter’  eziFunerals encouraged our readers to get the flu shot and avoid becoming another funeral statistic, so lower death rates is welcome news.

However, according to eziFunerals, there are bigger things at play that may be impacting on InvoCare’s funeral volumes, rather than a successful flu vaccination program. Namely a more informed consumer, an increase in funeral shopping and the rise of modern independent funeral homes.

Peter Erceg, eziFunerals owner and founder said, ‘More Australians are shopping around to find the best deal’ and choosing ‘no fuss’ ‘direct cremation’ funerals (which can cost less than $2,000) compared to a traditional funeral service, which can range between $4,000 for a basic cremation to around $15,000 for a more elaborate casket, burial and flowers. 

The introduction of disruptors like eziFunerals, fierce competition from smaller independent homes and increased price transparency is also changing the marketplace. As a consequence, the large funeral chains are slowly losing market share and are being forced to reconsider their market strategy in order to avoid a painful death.

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About eziFunerals

eziFunerals supports individuals and families cope with end of life decisions, death and funerals. We are an independent, Australian-owned and operated company, and are not a subsidiary of any other corporation. We are not part of any other funeral company. Founded by consumers frustrated by how difficult it was to get independent information, eziFunerals supports consumers plan a funeral, compare prices and select the right funeral director anywhere, anytime.