RETAIL
SPOTLIGHT
Back in 1993, prior to the birth of JIMAC, five
Filipino IT businessmen got together. They felt
that there is a need for a new type of software
that would be able to handle the technological
challenges in retail industry.
Conceived from the dream of these five
visionaries, JIMAC INCORPORATED today continues
to grow and offer different solutions for varied
needs including retail, fine dining, and pharmacy
among others. The Philippine Retailing talked with
JIMAC Chairman and President Mr. Danilo Tan
to learn more how the sole Filipino company that
develops their own POS technology, has grown
from its humble beginnings to become one of the
recognized POS providers in the country.
What would you say are
the major milestones for
the company?
One of the major
milestones for JIMAC
Incorporated, I would say
was when we were
selected by major malls
such as SM Malls,
Robinsonʼs Malls, and
Ayala Malls, among others,
as their accredited Point of
Sale provider for all their
tenants. It was also a big
leap for us, when we were
able to expand outside the
local scene, to ASEAN
market including Malaysia,
Indonesia and Singapore.
What are the biggest
challenges of the
company and how did
you overcome these?
Staying relevant in this day
and age is one of the
challenges that every IT
company faces—and so is
JIMAC. With new products
and features being
released faster than ever, the technology industry
is constantly evolving. All these changes are
exciting, especially for the innovative companies
behind todayʼs latest technologies. However, itʼs
also incredibly challenging to keep up with
cutting-edge competitors. To keep up, we make
sure that we are always up-to-date with the
current trends to support the needs of various
industries.
We read that you develop your own products
and you have you own engineers to do these?
Can you share with us the process, and what
advantages do you get from this strategy?
Our process can be compared with a blank space/
paper. Our customer can write and explain their
current process and needs on it. Based on this, we
will analyze, process, and adjust to provide
solutions customized for their needs. We believe
that each client has different customized systems
with different needs and processes, and the
advantage of this is that we can do business with a
wide range of clients from different industries
because we offer customization software
solutions.
PHILIPPINE RETAILING
Best of all, since we create our own program, it
grows with us. We own the code and features and
we can continue to upgrade and perform
maintenance as much or as little as we want.
Lastly, we can adjust our software to every
customer need and tweak to work with new
process and innovation trends.
Tell us some innovations you have applied in
the company, especially in response to digital
transformation in retail and the society in
general?
We have used mobile and tablet POS, cloud
technology and self-service ordering system. We
also have upcoming new innovations that weʼre
still working on and weʼve
partnered with different
companies to make it
possible. We believe that
innovation in this industry is
inevitable in the competition
so weʼre always thinking
ahead on how to innovate our
system to make the company
stay relevant and continue to
lead in the industry.
You have recently joined
the 26th NRCE, as an
exhibitor at the Stores Asia
Expo, and have been a
regular exhibitor in the
event, share with us the
experience and how does
this help the business?
Joining Stores Asia Expo as
an exhibitor gave us an
opportunity to increase
peopleʼs awareness of our
brand. It allows us to get in
touch with our target
audience, and is a perfect
opportunity for us to
showcase our brand, boost
our businessʼ image,
communicate our key
message to the right market, and draw attention
to our business.
Gaining more knowledge in our industry is also
one of the benefits we get from joining. This is
because we meet relevant people and businesses
in the field, so we were able to see what everyone
is up to and which trends are growing. Basically, it
allows us to see how the industry is shifting and
helps us gain knowledge of new products and
resources which helps us in making business
decisions.
As a long-time PRA member, what would you
say are the biggest benefits you get by being a
member of the trade organization?
Being a PRA member gave us the full benefits to
know more about our target market in the retail
industry. Itʼs “who you know matters”, PRA is filled
with potential contacts, clients and partners. Also,
being able to build a long-term relationships and
partnerships to the members that are
mutually-beneficial including sharing of ideas,
strengthening ties, and making connections that
would not be possible without the association.
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