INTERNORGA 2019 — This is how the international trade fair went

From March 15 to 19, 2019, the international trade fair for the catering and hotel industry took place in Hamburg for the 93rd time. Socialwave Was the industry spectacle allowed to INTERNORGA Experience it live for the first time and has a lot to report on. Managing Director Felix Schönfelder was also interviewed at the trade fair.

Data, figures and facts 2019

In 2018, the catering trade fair already had around 93,000 visitors, as well as 1,300 exhibitors from 25 different nations. This year, approximately 96,000 professionals be inspired by culinary highlights or about new trends and digital solutions inform. With around 1,300 exhibitors, a wide range of offers was once again guaranteed for trade fair visitors this year.

Socialwave at the metro stand

As digital solution at the stand of metro From March 15 to 19, 2019, Socialwave was able to sit next to FragPaul and OrderBird present at INTERNORGA. It was important to inform restaurateurs about the importance of digitization.

Because one thing is certain: in order to offer guests timely service, WiFi in restaurants, bars, cafés or hotels has become absolutely necessary due to increasing dependence on the Internet.

For this purpose, the metro also used a short video filmed to give those who missed INTERNORGA a glimpse of the international trade fair.

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Interview with managing director — Felix Schönfelder

Interviewer: How did you come up with the idea of Socialwave? And how has it developed since then?

Felix Schönfelder: Socialwave has been around since 2015, starting with customer demand for a WLAN system. We then asked ourselves what benefits could we offer him in addition to the WLAN system? In the meantime, it has developed into a marketing solution — WiFi is only secondary. In the last 4 1/2 years, we have now been able to convince around 10,000 customers of our product.

Interviewer: How does digitization play a role in the catering industry?

Felix Schönfelder: Digitalization also plays a major role in gastronomy. This is a topic that hovers over all of us and that every restaurateur is confronted with. But ultimately, the core business of restaurateurs is, of course, the kitchen. Their focus is on cooking and great dishes. That is why not everyone is as well versed in these digitization topics. That is exactly what our solution is for. It does everything automatically for the restaurateur.

Interviewer: What role does digitalization play in customer loyalty in the catering/hotel industry?

Felix Schönfelder: Of course, it plays a very important role. Guests are evolving — more and more is happening on the Internet. You search for restaurants via Google, Tripadvisor or other portals. Of course, it is all the more important that the restaurateur is also present there so that he can retain his existing guests and, of course, also attract new customers. If the restaurateur now misses the connection, then others will overtake him, even though he may be even better in terms of quality — for example in terms of food or gastronomy. However, if he is not present on these portals, he will be removed.

Interviewer: Society is changing and so are customers, who today primarily travel with mobile phones — Mobile First is the motto. Against this background: You have recently become the first and only service provider to offer a WhatsApp login. Tell us something about it!

Felix Schönfelder: Exactly, that is of course also a current development. We worked on this project for almost half a year. We wanted to establish direct contact between our customer and their guest. And what is the biggest messenger? Of course whatsapp — by a distance. With our solution, restaurateurs manage to appear almost directly on the guest's mobile phone. This is better than an email, especially since the channel is not yet so crowded in comparison. We developed it and we're actually the only ones offering it. It is incredibly well received and has enormous added value because every message is actually read by the guest. As a restaurateur, this means that I really manage to be remembered by my guests — even long after their visit.

Interviewer: We have learned that Socialwave is basically a WLAN solution that, in addition to a legally secure WLAN offering, also offers various marketing functions. With all of these features, what would you say is your favorite?

Felix Schönfelder: The WhatsApp login is of course a great feature. But my absolute favorite are the reviews. Review portals such as Google or Tripadvisor are the absolute hype at the moment. If you want to be successful as a restaurateur in your city, you have to be in the top 3 there. Assuming that I have a pizzeria and I am not represented there — then no new guests are coming to me. We have a great solution for our customers, which generates a lot of reviews — and above all good reviews. Bad reviews are sent as feedback. Criticism or bad reviews are of course also important so that you can improve. You may not necessarily want to have these publicly on Google in order to react to them and improve. This is actually our highlight at the moment, which is also incredibly well received — also here at the trade fair in the last 5 days.

Socialwave — WiFi with marketing

For everyone who INTERNORGA were unable to visit for various reasons, here is a brief description of our product:

Socialwave is more than just a guest WiFi solution. With us, you as a restaurateur have a real win-win situation: satisfied guests thanks to free WiFi from Socialwave, combined with innovative marketing features for you as a restaurateur.

From WiFi to WhatsApp marketing, as well as WiFi tracking, everything is available in our range. With customer reviews, restaurateurs can increase their Google ranking, strengthen their online presence through Facebook likes, and use pop-ups to inform their customers about current offers and news. Other useful features include automated email marketing and dashboard analyses via our customer portal. This allows restaurateurs to learn more about their customers and thus adapt their marketing measures in a targeted manner.

For more information, visit us at our homepage or get yourself a non-binding offer send.

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