Flow Of Customers Research Articles

Cost optimization and ANFIS computing for M/M/(R+c)/N queue under admission control policy and server breakdown

This study focuses on a finite queueing model with multiple servers, incorporating an admission control F-policy and considerations for customers’ balking and server breakdown. The F-policy concept is used to control the flow of incoming customers, making the model formulation more realistic. Implementing the admission control F-policy, along with adding additional servers, can effectively alleviate congestion issues for customers by reducing the formation of queues and decreasing the frequency of customers opting out of the queue due to extended waiting time. In order to conduct a mathematical analysis of the model and establish probability distributions, we formulate the steady-state Chapman–Kolmogorov (C–K) equations and solve them using a recursive technique. The probability distributions allow us to develop several system performance measures, including the expected system size, the expected number of busy permanent servers, the probability of server breakdown, etc. These measures are utilized to assess the effectiveness of the model. The impact of system input parameters on several performance measures in the multi-server queueing model is presented using a numerical example. The accuracy of the results of performance measures is validated by implementing the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) approach, enhancing the reliability and robustness of the findings. The non-linear cost function is also created to compute the optimal values of the decision variables, including the number of permanent servers, admission control threshold, service rate, and joining probabilities of customers. Grey wolf optimization (GWO) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms are applied to deal with the cost optimization problem. A comparative study of the GWO and PSO algorithms for cost optimization is also conducted. This optimization enables decision-makers to efficiently manage the system’s operations and resources. The findings of the study suggest that the proposed model can be applied in diverse real-life scenarios, such as electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs), restaurants, and various other locations.

Simulation of Discovering Market Opportunities Using AI Methods

Due to the strong turbulence that exists in the business environment, the view is sometimes articulated that the time horizon of decisions is no longer a hallmark of strategic management. Opposing views argue that a turbulent environment changes the trajectory of reaching future objectives determined by strategic decisions. Such trajectories require the company to be agile, which is manifested by seizing opportunities. Opportunities arise because the environment is volatile. An example of market opportunity is the unsatisfied demand for products. Buyers are driven by different motives when choosing between products that are alternative to them. From the producer's point of view, the purchase is therefore random. As a consequence, the alignment of the offered product portfolio with the actual purchasing decisions of customers is undetermined. In this article, we address the problem of determining the product portfolio structure expected by customers, i.e. one that is consistent with their future purchasing decisions. We hypothesise that this problem can be represented by a model of flows between alternative resources. Problems of this type are solved using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. In order to discover the expected demand (opportunity), we simulated the flow model we developed using the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, which is a special case of the MCMC method used in AI. Due to operating on numerical data, such simulations fall under quantitative research. In the article, we present a model of customer flows between alternative products and then the simulation result, which is the expected value of these flows (stationary point). We convert this value into the structure of the product portfolio using a model of customer purchasing decisions that we have developed. The obtained results confirm the effectiveness of our method and have significant practical value, especially for SMEs. It also enables the assessment of the company's product strategy based on real sales data. The application of our methodology is limited to discovering opportunities in situations where purchasing decisions are influenced by variable environmental factors, causing irregular purchases by individual customers. It is useful, for example, in discovering opportunities in markets such as Household Articles, Furniture, Vehicles, Equipment Repairs, Construction, and many others.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Advertising Costs in the Banking Sector

In recent years, clients of Russian banks have learned to take into account changes in the financial market quickly. When the key rate changes, they change their strategy — the demand for annual deposits decreases, and the flow of funds for short-term deposits increases. It doesn't contradict the interests of the banking sector. At a high level of the refinancing rate on the interbank market, the credit institution is interested in increasing the money supply on deposits. Attracting customers is carried out by banks using a variety of marketing tools, the main of which remains advertising. None of the tools for the bank is free of charge and a traditional economic problem arises: to put in the budget minimal costs for advertising and get a large the effect. It is obvious that in such a formulation the problem is unsolvable. Therefore, currently the theory offers only a single approach to assessing the effectiveness of advertising costs, which the authors call «traditional». Its disadvantage refers to the fact that the generated effect is difficult to divide into impact components, since not only advertising affects the flow of new customers and the share of loyal ones. The approach proposed by the authors makes it possible to assert that the use of an econometric method in management analysis in addition to the traditional method of assessing the effectiveness forms an evidence base for justifying advertising costs by banks. The article reflects the results of the study using the example of JSC «Raiffeisenbank». The advantage of the proposed method is the availability of information: the study is based only on open data published on the website of the Bank of Russia. This will allow Russian commercial banks to assess cost effectiveness after advertising campaigns and during their planning as well as compare the level of effectiveness with competitors.

Prioritized Retrial Queueing Systems with Randomized Push-Out Mechanism

The article is focused on a single-channel preemptive queuing system. Two stationary Poisson flows of customers are incoming to the system. The first flow has an absolute priority over the second one: a new high-priority customer from the first flow displaces a low-priority one from the service channel and takes its place. The capacity of the system is limited to k customers. There is a probabilistic push-out mechanism in the system: if a new high-priority customer finds that all the places in the queue are occupied, then it has the right to displace one low-priority customer from the queue with probability a. Both types of customers have the same exponentially distributed service times. Customers who failed to enter the system due to the limited size of the queue, as well as those expelled from the queue or service channel when the push-out mechanism is triggered, are not lost immediately, but they are sent to a special part of the system called the orbit and designed to store repeated customers. In orbit, there are two separate unlimited queues, consisting of low-priority and high-priority repeated customers, respectively. If there are no free places in the system, new customers with a probability q are added to the corresponding orbital queue. The waiting time of repeated customers in orbit is distributed according to an exponential law. The parameter of this law may differ for different types of customers. After waiting in orbit, secondary customers try to re-enter the system. The probabilistic characteristics of the described queuing system are calculated by the method of generating functions, previously proposed by the authors for calculating a similar system without repeated customers. This method allows finding the main probabilistic characteristics of distributions for both types of customers. Particular attention is paid to the study of the dependence of the loss probabilities for both types of customers on the parameters of the system, primarily on the push-out probability a, the capacity of the system k, and the probability of repeated circulation (probability of persistence) q. It is shown that the effect of blocking the system and the effect of the linear law of customers’ losses, previously identified in similar problems without repeated customers, remain valid even in the presence of secondary repeated customers. The theoretical results are proved by numerical calculations. The blocking area for the second type of customers was calculated along with the area of linear loss law for both types of customers. We studied the influence of the probability of repeated circulation q on the shape of these areas and on the dependence of the loss probabilities for both types of customers on the push-out probability a.

Моделирование влияния рекомендаций на приток пациентов в сеть клиник

The work deals with mathematical modeling of referral activities of the consumers who have received experience of physical therapy rehabilitation (PTR). The relevance of the work is determined by the importance of the development of rehabilitation activities and the creation of a network of treatment centers of walking distance. A mathematical model of the influence of referral feedback on the flows of customers entering treatment has been developed, as well as the estimates of the growth in the number of patients have been carried out. The main groups of patients influencing the number of patients undergoing treatment (Y) are: those continuing treatment (A), those recovered (B), those dissatisfied with treatment (C) and those choosing another method of restoring health (D). The main factor characterizing the flow of patients to the clinic is the “recommendation parameter” – R, which depends on eight coefficients characterizing the recommendation process. The differential equation of the flow of patients to the clinic, depending on time T, is dY/dT = H – YR, where H is the flow of patients under the influence of promotion. The analytical solution of this equation is expressed by the formula Y = HR(1 – Exp(-T/R)). The maximum number of patients is directly proportional to the promotion effect (H) and the recommendation parameter (R). The main factors affecting the value of the recommendation parameter are the proportion of patients who continue treatment (a) and the recommendation influence coefficient of these patients KA. As the number of clinic customers grows, promotion activity can be reduced without a significant drop in customer flow. The results can be used to intensify recommendation activity in the service sector.

STUDY OF POTENTIAL OF ORNAMENTAL FISHES IN KATHMANDU

Ornamental fishes are the peaceful, generally attractive fishes used for aesthetic, decorative, recreational and therapeutic purposes and a thriving industry supporting millions of people throughout the world. This study was conducted to learn about the status, sources, challenges and potential of ornamental fishes in Kathmandu (Nepal). Interviews were conducted with the major ornamental fish suppliers, traders and owners of aquarium shops and production farms to extract necessary information along with direct visits to the concerned places. Several secondary sources like published and unpublished reports, journals, books, photo books and pictorials were also used for data collection and analysis. The average number of customers per day in the studied shops was found to be 10-15 people in most of the shops. An increasing trend of customer flow was noticed in most of the shops in recent years. The average estimated profit margin was found to be 20-30%. Government support is recommended to tackle the major existing challenges including high mortality and maintenance issues of fishes. The increase in the number of shops, flow of customers and good profit margin shows the blooming status of the ornamental fish industry and helps to provide insights for the future of the industry.

From clicks to carts: Examining the role of perceived flow and customer satisfaction as mediators in social media e-commerce

Customer satisfaction is the bedrock of e-commerce. This study identifies the factors and consequences of the perceived flow of consumers with shopping websites. The research scrutinizes the association linking purchase intentions arising from customer satisfaction, website quality and perceived flow by incorporating the model of Stimulus Organism Response. The data were collected from online shoppers using purposive sampling targeted through social media. The data from 270 respondents have been analyzed using SmartPLS incorporating the Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling. The assessment showed an important beneficial impact of website usability, their security, functionality, and privacy features on the perceived flow of customers. Furthermore, perceived flow has been found to affect customers’ purchase intentions as well as satisfaction, and lastly, purchase intention is induced by how satisfied customers are with their shopping experience. The findings identify how important perceived flow functions in enhancing purchase intentions and customer satisfaction online. The findings can be noteworthy for online businesses and banks to improve online shopping experience and transactions.

Cross-Border Shopping on the European Union Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Market: Determinants of Lithuanian Shoppers’ Behavior in Poland

The sustainable economic development of a country or region can be encouraged by cross-border trade as it enables transnational cooperation and encourages entrepreneurs to search for more innovative and socially responsible practices. The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector was chosen for the research, as consumers purchase and use or consume these products frequently as they satisfy continuous consumer needs. The research supplements the scientific discussion on cross-border shopping and trade by presenting the research results from the Lithuania–Poland border region. The aim of the article is to identify the factors encouraging and suppressing Lithuanian customers shopping for FMCG in Poland. A questionnaire survey was provided in Poland and Lithuania by interviewing Lithuanians shopping for FMCG, and logistic regression was used. Key determinants of Lithuanian shopping behavior in the Polish FMCG market were established, i.e., economic and regional factors, income level, and professional activity. Finally, based on the research results, a model of Lithuanian consumer behavior in the cross-border FMCG market in Poland was composed and might be used and practically applied by local authorities and businesses to manage customer flows.

Automated Recognition and Control of Human Interaction by Video Image

The purpose of research is to increase the efficiency of recognition and control of interaction between buyers and sellers of stores by developing a model of automated recognition and control of human interaction by video image. Methods. The research is aimed at solving the fundamental scientific problem of developing models and methods for monitoring and recognizing human interaction by video image. At the moment, the sphere of trade is rapidly developing, there are more and more online resources that take over a significant part of the flow of customers, and therefore, ordinary stores and shopping centers need to introduce new ways and methods of interacting with customers, and therefore provide a better service. Modern companies are trying to solve this problem in different ways: counting visitors, monitoring devices, various neural network solutions, and so on. However, none of the currently available offers on the market is able to automatically classify a person as a buyer or seller by video image, as well as to assess the degree of customer satisfaction with the service provided. To remedy this situation, methods and models have been developed that make it possible to develop software based on them, with the help of which it will be possible to determine the satisfaction of visitors and customers, recognize customers and sellers among people and determine the quality of employees' work. Results. Models and methods for classifying customers and sellers by uniform, methods for determining the level of interaction between sellers and customers based on algorithms for determining the satisfaction of visitors andcustomers by voice and face, and algorithms for determining the quality of employees' work have been developed. Conclusion. As a result, models have been developed that allow improving the quality of interaction between sellers and customers by video image.

О МОДЕЛИРОВАНИИ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ АДМИНИСТРАТОРА САЛОНА КРАСОТЫ

The article conducted a study and analysis of the problems that arise in the course of the activities of the beauty salon administrator. The administrator plays an important role in the effective work of the organization and improving the quality of customer service. He is engaged in drawing up a work schedule, controls the cost of services and the quality of work of craftsmen, is responsible for the availability of consumables in stock, provides a high level of customer service from consulting and booking an appointment for the procedure, ending with accepting payment for the service implemented. According to research, the beauty salon market is actively developing at the moment and the flow of customers is increasing, along with this, the workload of the administrator is also increasing. It is important to help the administrator to perform his work duties effectively in order to maximize profits and improve the image of the salon. The article highlighted the responsibilities of the administrator, presented and modeled the main business processes of the beauty salon in the provision of services, described the reasons for the relevance of the development of an automated system and the problems that will be solved after its implementation.

The Role of Digital Marketing in Tourism Businesses: An Empirical Investigation in Greece

For the tourism industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has acted as an accelerator towards the 4th industrial revolution by creating new and innovative solutions, which have transformed management, finance, planning and opened new avenues for the introduction of innovative sales and marketing technologies. As the tourism industry in Greece faces significant challenges and opportunities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, additional needs have arisen for tourism businesses, as confirmed in this research, to adapt faster to digital operations and strengthen digital marketing through multi-channel distribution and use of digital assistants. This study aims to investigate the use of digital marketing tools by tourism companies as well as the overall satisfaction of the companies with its use and the areas of impact of digital marketing from the COVID-19 pandemic, and then to highlight all those features that stand out from those of their competitors, as well as the creation of an appropriate marketing strategy that will ensure the flow of new customers and increased revenue. To meet this purpose, an empirical survey was conducted in tourism companies in order to provide answers to research questions. As tourism businesses have not yet made sufficient use of digital media as a strategic marketing tool, this research is the basis for further research into the use of technology and digital tools to reach customers and create a more personalized experience for them.

Dynamic policy for idling time preservation

AbstractThis study aims to determine and evaluate dynamic idling policies where an agent can idle while some customers remain waiting. This type of policies can be employed in situations where the flow of urgent customers does not allow the agent to spend sufficient time on back‐office tasks. We model the system as a single‐agent exponential queue with abandonment. The objective is to minimize the system's congestion while ensuring a certain proportion of idling time for the agent. Using a Markov decision process approach, we prove that the optimal policy is a threshold policy according to which the agent should idle above (below) a certain threshold on the queue length if the congestion‐related performance measure is concave (convex) with respect to the number of customers present. We subsequently obtain the stationary probabilities, performance measures, and idling time duration, expressed using complex integrals. We show how these integrals can be numerically computed and provide simpler expressions for fast‐agent and heavy‐traffic asymptotic cases. In practice, the most common way to regulate congestion is to control access to the service by rejecting some customers upon arrival. Our analysis reveals that idling policies allow high levels of idling probability that such rejection policies cannot reach. Furthermore, the greatest benefit of implementing an optimal idling policy occurs when the objective occupation rate is close to 50% in highly congested situations.

Analysis of Stochastic State-Dependent Arrivals in a Queueing-Inventory System with Multiple Server Vacation and Retrial Facility

This article analyses a four-dimensional stochastic queueing-inventory system with multiple server vacations and a state-dependent arrival process. The server can start multiple vacations at a random time only when there is no customer in the waiting hall and the inventory level is zero. The arrival flow of customers in the system is state-dependent. Whenever the arriving customer finds that the waiting hall is full, they enter into the infinite orbit and they retry to enter the waiting hall. If there is at least one space in the waiting hall, the orbital customer enters the waiting hall. When the server is on vacation, the primary (retrial) customer enters the system with a rate of λ1(θ1). If the server is not on vacation, the primary (retrial) arrival occurs with a rate of λ2(θ2). Each arrival rate follows an independent Poisson distribution. The service is provided to customers one by one in a positive time with the rate of μ, which follows exponential distribution. When the inventory level drops to a fixed s, reorder of Q items is triggered immediately under (s,Q) ordering policy. The stability of the system has been analysed, and using the Neuts matrix geometric approach, the stationary probability vectors have been obtained. Moreover, various system performance measures are derived. The expected total cost analysis explores and verifies the characteristics of the assumed parameters of this model. The average waiting time of a customer in the waiting hall and orbit are investigated using all the parameters. The monotonicity of the parameters is verified with its characteristics by the numerical simulation. The discussion about the fraction time server being on vacation suggests that as the server’s vacation duration reduces, its fraction time also reduces. The mean number of customers in the waiting hall and orbit is reduced whenever the average service time per customer and average replenishment time are reduced.

INFORMATION SUPPORT OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGIC PLANNING, PRICING OF UKRAINIAN COMPANIES IN THE CONDITIONS OF WAR WITH RUSSIA

Abstract. The conducted research improved the theoretical and methodological component of information support for strategic planning of international marketing, pricing of Ukrainian enterprises in the conditions of war with russia, turbulent external challenges. The information support of the decisionmaking process regarding purchases on the industrial market in conditions of martial law was highlighted and the approaches of scientists to marketing pricing, marketing strategic planning, multi-channel sales strategies were investigated enterprises. The article updates scientific developments regarding data sources in the analytics of the business environment and their transformation in the digital economy. Scientific and practical approaches to promotion, organization of marketing communications in global social networks, in particular, Facebook, are highlighted. The authors proposed a model of marketing communication, information support of business activity in Ukraine for Victory over the aggressor country – russia. The model substantiates the use of socially responsible and patriotic advertising, marketing and social communication streams in support of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the field of developing a marketing and social communication campaign strategy, in which patriotic narratives prevail. The selection of Facebook targeting tools, the use of artificial intelligence technologies, and augmented reality are defined. The organic business direction for Facebook is studied, when it is thanks to organic distributions that the expansion of the target audience and additional customer flows are ensured. It is appropriate to use a complex of social networks to fight against mega-false russian propaganda and to form a procedure for protection against fakes. Keywords: international marketing, marketing strategic planning, marketing pricing, information support.

Analysis of a MAP/M/1/N Queue with Periodic and Non-Periodic Piecewise Constant Input Rate

This paper considers a queuing system with a finite buffer, a constant main MAP flow, and an additional periodic (non-periodic) Poisson piecewise-constant flow of customers. The eigenvalues of the probability translation matrix of a Kolmogorov system with constant input intensities is analyzed. The definition of the transition mode time based on the analysis of the probability translation matrix determinant is introduced for the first time. An analytical solution to the Kolmogorov equation system for a queuing system with piecewise constant arrival and service intensities is found, the solutions for a queuing system with periodic arrival and service intensities are analyzed, and numerical calculations illustrating this approach are presented.

Street network and home-based business patterns in Cairo’s informal areas

Identifying the economic potential of informal urban areas is a topic of increasing interest for policymakers and practitioners in less developed countries, yet little is known of how informal street design influences the type and count of business opportunities. By adapting a space syntax framework, this study aims to quantitatively verify the association between the street design of informal areas in Cairo and patterns of home-based businesses in areas where small business prevalence is high. This paper contributes to the literature by developing a methodology which is fit for testing hypotheses, allows to control for the influence of unobserved factors, and which extracts the spatial rules, trends or logics of business patterns. The results show that street accessibility is an important factor in encouraging (or discouraging) the settlement of home-based businesses. Home-based businesses are spatially distributed along the local primary streets, which provide flows of potential customers. Our findings contribute to a better knowledge base for understanding how different types of economic activities and the spatial properties of the built environment relate to each other, how street design may impact on the emergence of small and micro-enterprises, what kind of business may suit isolated laneways, how informal business activities can be anticipated and managed, and how land use regulations can be improved.

Assessing the Impact of Mask Usage on COVID-19 Transmission Using a Computer Simulation

Background: COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is highly contagious and causes substantial morbidity and mortality. Mask usage has been advocated by health professionals to minimize its spread. Thus, it is important to develop a simulation that models SARS-CoV-2 spread in indoor environments to evaluate mask usage effectiveness. Methods: A visual computer simulation was developed with Pygame in Python 3. A virtual indoor supermarket is simulated by a given flow of customers with an initial infection percentage and mask usage percentage who enter, move around, and exit a supermarket with shelves, tables, and cashiers to demonstrate a system’s dynamic complexity, i.e., nonlinear interactions of system elements over time. A supermarket was simulated with initial infection rates of 5%, 10%, and 20% and mask use percentages of 0%, 25%, 50% 75%, and 100%. The environmental settings (e.g., shelf number and location) and total customers (N=200) were kept constant. Results: The number of infected customers increased as the percentage of mask usage decreased (p<0.01). At 5% initial infection, almost no infections were observed at 50% mask usage and greater, with a logarithmic best-fit model (R²=0.947). At 10% initial infection, the association between mask usage and decrease in number of infections was best fit with a linear model (R²=0.924). For 20% initial infection, a quadratic model was the best fit (R²=0.934). While a linear model suggests proportional decreases in infection, the quadratic model suggests more significant reductions in infections at higher rates of mask use (i.e., increasing mask usage from 5% to 10% is less impactful than from 65% to 70%). Conclusion: The results suggest that mask usage has a significant impact on decreasing COVID-19 transmission. Ideally, mask usage should be as high as possible to achieve more significant reductions in COVID-19 infections. Various parameters can be adjusted during simulation as we learn more about SARS-CoV-2 to guide policies for minimizing COVID-19 transmission.

К вопросу управления рекламными проектами в индустрии сервиса

Purpose of the article. This article discusses the current problems of advertising project management in the service industry. It has been established that one of the most common methods of service organization is the management of all business processes exclusively by the manufacturer’s personnel. Materials and methods. The application of this methodology is relevant for new and small enterprises or projects where the budget is limited, and the products or functions being implemented are complex and require highly qualified specialists - service services are of great importance in the process of choosing a product by the consumer, the more complex its design and mode of operation. Results. With the increasing popularization of the company and their products, this method begins to create entropy – an increase in the flow of customers contributes to a shortage of working personnel and affects the quality of the organization as a whole. To solve problems of this nature, companies resort to the following solution: open new branches (subsidiaries) or use the services of partner companies. The second most frequent implementation is the «representative method», where the service is provided by the staff of the company’s subsidiaries or partner companies. The choice of methodology for organizing advertising project management systems in the service industry depends on the size of the company and its specification. Conclusion. If a company is a newcomer to the market, it will have to independently organize service systems, and in the future, the choice of the most convenient method for it, or the representative method and the method of attracting an intermediary company can be combined.

Decision support system for location selection of convenience stores and retail facilities using optimization techniques and GIS

The successful spatial location of small convenience stores and retail facilities greatly affects the potential flow of customers, therefore the task of optimizing their location is primary when opening a new store or revising an existing stores’ location. We developed a decision support system for location selection of convenience stores and retail facilities using optimization techniques and a geographic information system. The system identifies areas on an electronic map with the greatest potential to locate a store or retail facility, taking into account its specifics, pedestrian accessibility, opening hours, and a set of goods or services. The system calculates the optimal location of one or several stores using one of the optimization techniques for the criterion of the number of potential customers. In our experiments, we used gradient descent for optimization. The experiments were carried out in areas of various sizes using data obtained from Open Street Map. Experimental results showed that the system finds the optimal location in a reasonable time and therefore it can be useful for small convenience stores and retail facilities.

Spectral expansion method for analysis of a system with shifted Erlang and hyper-Erlang distributions

In this paper, we obtained a spectral expansion of the solution to the Lindley integral equation for a queuing system with a shifted Erlang input flow of customers and a hyper-Erlang distribution of the service time. On its basis, a calculation formula is derived for the average waiting time in the queue for this system in a closed form. As you know, all other characteristics of the queuing system are derivatives of the average waiting time. The resulting calculation formula complements and expands the well-known unfinished formula for the average waiting time in queue in queuing theory for G/G/1 systems. In the theory of queuing, studies of private systems of the G/G/1 type are relevant due to the fact that they are actively used in the modern theory of teletraffic, as well as in the design and modeling of various data transmission systems.