Rajkot-based online obituaries startup Shradhanjali is expanding its presence by entering into multilingual obituaries, adding social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and soon joining the obits e-Commerce market.

Others such as Tributes.in, a venture from India online, which recently entered into the online obits space, is also planning to be a one-stop platform. “We are adding regional languages to the online obits that will allow people to share their condolences through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter,” said Vivek Vyas, Co-Founder of Shradhanjali.com, which was once applauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (then CM of Gujarat).

Established in 2013, Shradhanjali.com initially started in English and now allows people to pen down obits, biography and condolences for loved ones in ten different Indian languages. It allows Facebook sharing and would soon add Twitter sharing to the platform.

According to Vyas, the initial revenue generation was on a subscription basis and he now wants to add ecommerce to it. “The obits platform would have ecommerce inbuilt that will allow users to order flowers, condolence cards, sweets and other obit-related products that can be delivered to the grieving family members,” said Vyas. Vyas said that with an increasing internet penetration, people are taking the decision in favour of online obits over traditional newspaper obits.

As per a market survey by Tributes. in, the newspaper obituary and remembrance advertisement market size is estimated at more than Rs 350 crore annually from the top 100 cities in India. Out of this, the top 20 cities of India accounted for more than 60% of the market share.

Started in 2015, Tributes.in is exploring the US market, which is gaining momentum, and will soon launch a global website — tributes. co in the next six months. It too added regional languages to its obits portal.

Tributes.in is also looking into venturing into obits e-Commerce. “Before we start obits e-Commerce, we have to check the sensibility and what and how people would accept it,” said Rahul Jalan, Director, Tributes.in. According to him, lots of products can be spun off for obituary or condolence purposes through obits e-Commerce. 

Source: The Economic Times