Funeral Merchandising Terminology

Merchandising

The purchasing, pricing, display, and sale of merchandise.

Cash discount

Discounts from quoted prices as an inducement for prompt payment of invoices.

Church truck

A wheeled and collapsible stand for a casket.

Casket stand or casket standard bier

The stand or support upon which a casket rests in the selection room.

Casket rack

A devise upon which caskets are placed, above the other, for display or storage.

Casket bier

A stand which a casket is placed on for viewing and services. Occasionally used in the selection room.

Middle of Month

What is MOM?

End of Month

What is EOM?

Cash Before Delivery

What is CBD?

Cash on Delivery

What is COD?

Foot candle

The amount of illumination produced by a source of one candle at a distance of one foot.

Quantity discount

Reduction in the amount of a bill when a minimum quantity has been ordered.

Rebates

Return of a portion of payment paid.

Consignments

Merchandise is given to funeral director to sell. Funeral director does not pay for merchandise until it is sold.

Graduated recovery

Pricing method where the markup varies.

Unit pricing

One total price for both service and merchandise.

Itemized pricing

Each unit of service and/or merchandise is priced separately.

Package pricing

Groups together selected services and merchandise.

Bi-unit pricing

Separates the price of services and the price of the casket.

Functional pricing

The charges are broken down into several component parts, such as professional service, facilities, automobile, and merchandise.

Cash advance items

Common to all forms of price quotation.

Cash advance

Any item of service or merchandise obtained from a third party and paid for by the funeral provider on the purchaser’s behalf.

LED lighting

Uses light emitting diodes to produce light very efficiently.

LED, solar powered

Green lighting options include what?

Consumer Value Index

The percentage derived by dividing the wholesale amount of the merchandise by the retail price of the merchandise.

Gross Casket Profit

Retail price minus wholesale cost; measures profit of each casket.

Merchandising Value Ratio

Shows the relationship between the wholesale cost of merchandise and the total cost of both service and merchandise to the consumer.

Gross Casket Profit and Markup

Difference between merchandise cost and selling price.

Fixed multiple (times factor) pricing

Straight-line or times factor. Casket wholesale price is multiplied by a constant factor to arrive at the retail price.

Fixed percent

Wholesale casket prices are multiplied by a fixed percentage.

Fixed dollar pricing

Add the same dollar amount to wholesale cost of item of merchandise. The amount of profit needed from each casket sale is added to the wholesale cost of the casket.

Graduated recovery

The markup varies depending on the wholesale cost of the casket.

Increasing graduated recovery

The higher the wholesale cost, the higher the markup.

Decreasing graduated recovery

Markup decreases with higher cost.

Modified declining

Markup decreases with higher cost, except lowest price caskets have lower markup.

Sales frequency

Number of times sales in a given price bracket occur over a fixed period of time.

Consumerized pricing

Method of pricing so that actual price figures are familiar to the consumer.

Quartile

A division of the total into four intervals, each one representing one-fourth of the total.

Sales analysis

Facilitates the optimization of a firm’s product offerings, the value it offers to its clients, and its profit generating abilities.

Price quotations

Itemization, unit pricing, bi-unit pricing, functional pricing, package pricing, and cash advance items.

Overhead

Any cost not specifically associated with the production of identifiable products and services.