Enhancing Service Processes in a Convenience Store: Modelling and Simulation Approach in a in the Case of a Peruvian Store

This article focuses on a convenience store located in Lima, Peru, which faces the challenge of long waiting lines that negatively impact service performance and customer perception, thereby compromising the quality of service for future clients. An observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study with a quantitative and interventional approach was conducted to analyze customers' arrival, waiting, and service times in order to assign an appropriate probability distribution to describe their behavior using the Stat:Fit program. Additionally, to address this issue, ProModel simulation software and queuing theory were utilized to identify potential bottlenecks causing delays in customer service, with the aim of optimizing queue management. The results indicated that the addition of a third cashier reduces utilization from 86.21% to 58.864%. Furthermore, it is recommended to implement a self-service checkout or reorganize the product layout. These measures are intended to ensure satisfactory customer experience and improve operational efficiency in the convenience store.