Investigating the Possibility of Implementing an Online Marriage Halls Booking System in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Keeping in consideration the growing demand of marriage halls in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the problems people, particularly women, face in booking a marriage hall after visiting each in person, the study was aimed to investigate the possibility of providing an online platform for marriage halls. The idea was to propose an E-commerce website for wedding hall companies that would enable Saudi citizens to compare the services and prices of different venues and then, make bookings at the comfort of their homes.

The review of literature revealed absence of any research on online presence of marriage halls in KSA, strengthening the need for conducting a research on this topic. Using quantitative research technique with interpretative philosophy, the study was conducted through cross-sectional survey of 40 Saudi citizens with at least one experience of online purchases.

The selected 40 respondents had basic knowledge of computer, were using Internet daily, and were familiar with online shopping system. Survey revealed some important areas in the IT sector of Saudi Arabia that needs improvement like laws regarding data security and privacy, and people’s trust over web sources for their personal information. Respondent agree that booking a marriage hall in KSA is an issue and supported the idea of developing online services for marriage hall booking. They also provided some important information about the payment features, customer support, return policy etc.

Based on research findings, it was concluded that the proposal of an E-commerce platform for booking marriage halls in KSA can be a success story, provided the web developer take care of customer preferences as well as cultural and religious constraints.