[tjpaudio]

Kind of a textbook description of queue theory if you were taking a stochastic processes class. If the author really is suggesting this for use in retail line situations, he is out of touch because... retail managers have no idea what queue theory is. If they did, they would be making much more money, and not working in retail. Staffing is more of a function of how many people you can get on the clock without getting yelled at by regional managers (who also do not know queue theory) for overstaffing.

[paulgb]

Retailers do use queue theory (here's an old article about it[1]), it just has to come from the management down rather than individual store managers.

1: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/23/business/23checkout.html

[Spooky23]

That’s not true at all! A good GM understands throughput and may get bonuses based on that.

The retailer I worked at in the 90s also tracked the ring rate and time per customer for cashiers, and made scheduling and hour decisions based on performance.

[tjpaudio]

Thats great and all, but also not queue theory.

[wwweston]

What's the formula for making more money by knowing queueing theory?

(Not the application to retail management, which is straightforward, but the application to getting a better job.)

[tjpaudio]

Maybe less literal than you are thinking. A background in mathematics opens you to many lucrative careers.