Meeting Modern Expectations: Why the Funeral Consumer Experience Must Change…NOW

Insights from Batesville and B+N Industries on how modern consumer expectations are reshaping the funeral experience.

For more than two decades, death care has quietly lived outside the rules of modern consumer behavior. While families learned to order groceries from their phones, customize cars online, and expect seamless retail experiences everywhere else, funeral homes largely stayed the same.

That gap is no longer survivable.

In the recent Funeral Professional Education Series webinar, Meeting Modern Expectations: Redefining the Consumer Experience, industry leaders Jenn Parvin (Senior VP & Chief Customer Officer, Batesville), Devin Dardanes (Executive VP of Business Development, B+N Industries), and moderator Ryan Thogmartin (Owner & CEO, DISRUPT Media) tackled a simple but uncomfortable truth: today’s families are not shopping differently for funerals, they’re shopping the same way they shop for everything else.

The Consumer Has Changed. Funeral Homes Must Catch Up

Families now expect instant access, personalization, and continuity across every touchpoint. As Parvin explained, consumers are accustomed to ordering online, picking up curbside, or having items delivered directly to them, all from the same device in their pocket. Funeral service is not exempt from that expectation.

This is where many firms misunderstand the problem. It’s not about adding more “channels.” It’s about building an omnichannel experience, one where phone calls, websites, in-person visits, digital planning tools, and physical product displays all connect into a single, unified journey.

Multi-channel gives families options. Omnichannel gives them clarity.

The Retail Reality Funeral Homes Don’t Want to Admit

Batesville’s research revealed something startling: nearly 80% of funeral homes still rely on physical selection rooms, yet most of those spaces are over 15 years old and built using retail tools abandoned by modern retailers decades ago.

Even more telling? Nearly two-thirds of funeral directors said they’d consider doing something different if a better option existed.

That insight triggered a hard pivot. Batesville recognized that, while they excel at designing products, they weren’t experts in designing retail environments. So instead of forcing an internal solution, they went outside the industry and partnered with B+N Industries, a firm whose entire business exists because traditional retail design needed to evolve.

That decision changed everything.

Designing for Emotion, Not Just Display

Dardanes brought a retail design philosophy shaped by brands like Nike, Gucci, and Nordstrom into a space where “retail” has always felt like a dirty word. The goal wasn’t to commercialize funeral service; it was to humanize it.

Using biophilic design principles, natural materials, thoughtful lighting, acoustics, and modular systems, the new Batesville retail environments are designed to reduce stress, slow decision-making, and create calm during one of life’s most difficult moments.

Retail research shows that effective lighting design can boost sales by up to 12%, with LED-lit areas seeing an additional 6% lift. Tactile interaction with products can increase purchasing by 10%. When families engage digitally as part of the experience, spending increases as confidence and clarity improve.

These aren’t sales tricks; they’re signals that comfort drives better decision-making.

Digital + Physical = The “AND” Funeral Homes Need

Perhaps the most important takeaway from the webinar was this: the future is not digital or physical. It’s digital and physical.

Families can now explore options online, personalize products digitally, and then walk into a physical space that reflects what they’ve already built, just like buying a car. They don’t need to imagine the final product anymore. They can see it, touch it, and customize it in real time.

That integration doesn’t just empower families. It relieves pressure on funeral directors, creates repeatable processes for staff, and drives measurable business outcomes. Funeral homes that implement the full omnichannel experience have seen average sales increase by $300–$400 and margins improve by more than 12%, without sacrificing care or compassion.

The Standard Is Shifting: Here’s What That Means for Funeral Homes

Modernizing the consumer experience isn’t about selling more. It’s about serving better, in a way families already understand and expect.

As Parvin put it, these are not trivial purchases. These are final resting places for the most important people in someone’s life. If the experience feels outdated, uncomfortable, or disconnected, the industry has failed them.

The good news? The roadmap already exists.

Watch the full webinar replay at the link below and see exactly how Batesville, B+N Industries, and forward-thinking funeral homes are redefining what modern service looks like.