Funeral Service Market Growing to 10 Trillion Won... Competition Among Unique Products Intensifies

Popular Conversion Products Used for Funeral Prepayments, Travel, and More
Diverse Options Including Wedding, Pets, Education, and Home Appliances

Competition is intensifying in the domestic funeral service market, which has grown to a scale of 10 trillion won. Each company is vying to attract subscribers by offering a variety of services ranging from travel and education to weddings, pets, and wigs.

According to the industry on the 15th, the domestic funeral service market has more than doubled in the past decade. According to the report "From Grave to Cradle, Funeral Service Industry on the Brink of a Great Transformation" published by Samjong KPMG, the number of funeral service subscribers this year was 8.9 million, with advance payments totaling 9.45 trillion won. In 2015, there were 4.04 million subscribers and advance payments of 3.52 trillion won.

Fried Life, Hi-Mo Free Hi-Mo Conversion Service. (Photo by Fried Life)

The industry expects the domestic funeral service market to expand to a scale of 10 trillion won soon, as severe aging continues. Unlike in the past, the number of young subscribers to funeral services has also been increasing recently, so each company is focusing on developing products to secure subscribers not only among middle-aged and older adults but also among the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z).

Recently, FreedLife partnered with Ceragem to launch a conversion product that allows the use of the spinal medical device ‘Master’ series. Conversion products are services that allow funeral service payments to be converted and used for products other than funeral events. This product has attracted attention as a filial piety gift for parents, leading to a surge in subscription inquiries from younger generations. Additionally, last month, FreedLife partnered with the custom wig company Hi-Mo to introduce 'FreeHi-Mo,' the funeral service industry's first wig package conversion service.

Boram Funeral Service is targeting the pet market. Having launched the SkyPet service, a funeral product exclusively for pets, Boram Funeral Service has taken a leading role in entering the pet market within the funeral service industry and is focusing on enhancing services, such as introducing pet-exclusive transport vehicles. Since its launch last year, this product has continued to grow steadily, and the company is expanding its business by linking it with new ventures such as pet biometric jewelry.

Boramsangjo Pet Funeral Service 'SkyPet'. (Photo by Boramsangjo)

Kyowon Life is collaborating with Kyowon Tour, the travel affiliate of the Kyowon Group, to offer various travel conversion products. A representative product is the 'Senior One-Month Living' package, which allows customers to travel for three weeks in Kuala Lumpur, a major tourist city in Southeast Asia, while also enjoying foreign language education and unique cultural experiences. Furthermore, Kyowon Life plans to launch a pet conversion product this year, signaling competition with Boram Funeral Service.

Meanwhile, the current leader in advance payments in the domestic funeral service industry is FreedLife, which reached 2.3099 trillion won last year. Boram Funeral Service (combined across seven group companies) ranks second, and Kyowon Life is third. The two companies are fiercely competing for second place, with advance payments of 1.4676 trillion won and 1.28 trillion won, respectively.

An industry insider explained, "Funeral service products are advantageous because even if prices rise while paying installments, subscribers only pay the amount at the time of subscription, so the higher the inflation, the more beneficial it is. Interest in conversion products is high to the extent that people subscribe to funeral services not for funeral preparations but for overseas travel or purchasing home appliances. Each company is making efforts to develop conversion products to secure new subscribers."