Serviis conducted a market survey in Saudi Arabia focusing on the service market. We analyzed the engagement process, from the search, selection and hiring of a service provider.

1. This document is confidential and is intended solely for
the use and information of the client to whom it is addressed.
Market Survey
December 2017
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▪ Serviis has conducted a survey of the Saudi service market to understand the challenges faces by
Saudi customers to search and identify a service provider, assess a service provider, and select
and hire a service provider
▪ The survey was conducted both in English and in Arabic, with direct interviews and through an
online platform to 154 potential customers
▪ The survey highlighted the following
o Home Service Providers are the most difficult to find, followed by tutors and business
service providers, mainly due to the lack of digital presence
o Direct referral is still the preferred tool to search for service providers, followed by google
and digital directories
o Time consuming process, lack of transparency on price and quality are the main issues
when searching for a service provider
o Saudi customers highly value reviews and referrals from friends and relatives, and price
when selecting a service providers
o A high quality and trusted solution is the main concern of Saudi customers when hiring a
service provider
▪ Saudi service market needs to evolve along three main dimensions:
o enhance digital presence of its service providers
o increase transparency on its service offering, quality and price
o enhance the quality and security of its service providers
Executive Summary
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Survey was conducted across 4 cities, different genders and age,
and involved about 154 interviewees
0% 13%25%38%50%
over 60
45-60
35-44
25-34
18-24
Survey Demographics
Male Female
0%18%35%53%70%88%
Makkah
Dammam
Riyadh
Jeddha
Saudi CitiesGender ProfileAge Profile
Interviewees: 154 of which 35 direct
interviews
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Search and Identification Selection and HiringAssessment
Q1 - Which service providers
you think are difficult to find?
Q2 - How do you search for a
professional in the home,
business, event management
or wellness categories?
Q3 - What problems do you
have when looking for a
service provider?
Q4 - When comparing
professionals (before hiring),
how important are the
following aspects?
Q5 - When hiring a
professional, what do you
care the most?
The survey focuses on the customer journey from search to hiring
of a service provider in KSA
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Home Service Providers are the most difficult to find, followed by
tutors and business service providers
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Home services (plumbers, painters,
cleaning, electricians etc)
Lessons (language tutors, music tutors,
academic tutors etc)
Business services (marketing
consultants, HR consultants, graphic…
Events services (Event planners,
catering, flower decorations etc...)
Beauty and wellness services
(personal trainers, makeup artists,…
Writing and translation services
(Translators, copywriters etc)
Q1 - Which service providers you think are difficult to find?
Home services providers
do not have a digital
presence (e.g., a
webpage). Few of them
are registered on digital
directories, however in
most of the cases their
data are not updated.
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Direct referral is still the preferred tool to search for service
providers, followed by google and digital directories
Q2 - How do you search for a professional in the home, business,
event management or wellness categories?
0% 15% 30% 45% 60%
Referral (e.g. asking to a friend or family)
Search on Google
Other
Search on online classifieds (e.g. Bezaat,
Haraj, Expatriates)
Search on newspapers / magazines
Search on online directories (e.g. online
yellow pages)
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Time consuming process, lack of transparency on price and
quality are the main issues when searching for a service provider
0% 8% 15% 23% 30%
It takes a lot of time to find the service
provider
It is difficult to compare prices
No transparency on the quality of the
previous jobs
No transparency on the
background/experience of the service…
It is difficult to communicate
Other e.g., mainly quality related)
Q3 - What problems do you have when looking for a service provider?
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Saudi customers highly valued reviews and referral from friends
and relatives, and price when selecting a service providers
Q4 - When comparing professionals (before hiring), how important are the following aspects?
0% 4% 9% 13% 17% 21%
Reviews/feedback from other people
Price
Referral from friends or relatives
Past experiences (proved by pictures or video)
Years of experience
The way he/she introduces himself/herself
Certifications and qualifications
Main
feedbacks are
on the quality
of the service
and security
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A high quality and trusted solution is the main concern of Saudi
customers when hiring a service provider
Q5 - When hiring a professional, what do you care the most?
0% 8% 15% 23% 30% 38%
Quality = a high quality solution
Security = a trusted solution
Price = an economic solution
Quick reply to my request
Immediate availability
Other - Puntuality
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▪ Service providers require a major transformation to align their services to the
Saudi customers’ expectations.
▪ Services providers require to
o build online profiles and display their service offering and experience especially
with pictures showcasing their past jobs,
o report feedback from previous customers in order to build trust,
o have a proven quality management system which allows a proper delivery
of the service.
▪ Serviis.com has been established in 2016 to support the transformation of the
Saudi service market by providing to its network of service providers a digital
platform where to display their service offering, where customers’ can leave
feedbacks on their performance.
▪ In addition to this, Serviis is planning to develop basic quality manuals for all
service on its platform.
Key Takeaway
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