Funeral Service Merchandising- Sundry Items

Question 1

The miscellaneous items provided or used to complement the services of a funeral director.

Answer 1

Sundry Items

Question 2

Canopic jars and tomb furnishings.

Answer 2

Ancient Egyptian Sundries

Question 3

Candles, palls, and black drapes provided by “undertakers” of the day.

Answer 3

Middle Age Sundry Items

Question 4

The undertaker of this era provided (or procured) funeral broadsides and black-edged funeral notices, customary for the era.

Answer 4

Colonial America Sundry Items

Question 5

With all of the changes in funeralization that have occurred, the vast majority of services handled by the _____ funeral home require some sort of sundry funeral merchandise.

Answer 5

Modern

Question 6

• Burial garments
• Acknowledgement cards
• Memorial folders
• Laminated obituaries
• Prayer cards
• Crucifixes
• Religious icons
• Shivah candles
• Flowers
• Cemetery memorials (temporary and permanent)
• Flay cases
• Video tributes
• DNA sampling

Answer 6

Sundry Merchandise

Question 7

Provided or sold in direct connection with the personal or religious requirements of the family being served.

Answer 7

Most of the Sundry Merchandise Offered by the Typical Funeral Establishment

Question 8

Being offered in order to provide further opportunities for personalization (and/or enhance the funeral home’s bottom line).

• As diverse and far-ranging as teh demands of the market itself.

Answer 8

Newer Goods and Services

Question 9

1. Bare-minimum selection
2. Great number of creatively displayed and marketed sundry choices

Answer 9

Two Basic Approaches to the Sale of Sundry Merchandise (can use one or both)

Question 10

• One type of register book
• One kind of acknowledgement cards
• One style of memorial folder
• “One-size-fits-all” approach
• Will not directly charge families for basic sundries
• Fear that charging for a family’s selection will be “nickel and dime-ing” the family.
• Family may not particularly care for the selections, but will accept them as part of “what the funeral home does.”

Answer 10

Bare-Minimum Selection of Sundries

Question 11

• Charges appropriately for the selected items
• Sundry merchandise might be grouped, organized, or sold in “packages.”
• Usually price/quality categories of good (entry level), better (standard), and best (premium).

Answer 11

Great Number of Creatively Displayed and Marketed Sundry Choices

Question 12

1. In this age where families are demanding an end to “cookie-cutter” funerals and insisting on personalization and individualization, a wide offering of sundries allows a family to choose what items best fit their needs. This leads to greater client satisfaction and an increased percieved value of the funeral home’s services.
2. The sale of properly merchandised sundries can represent a significant source of revenue (an important consideration in times of increasing fiscal challenges!).

Answer 12

The Firm that Offers the Family Choices- 2 Important Opportunities for the Funeral Home