/ / 3 min read

How long will an agent wait?

Deepanshu Pal

An illustrative look at how agent task completion changes with page response time and with the number of steps to checkout.

Banner illustration for: How long will an agent wait?

This post uses illustrative numbers. They are not measurements from a live study. We built them to show the shape of the problem, and we label every chart that way. The shape is the point: agents work inside a time budget, and stores spend it.

Response time and completed tasks

Assume an agent is given a fixed time budget per merchant. As a store gets slower, fewer tasks finish inside that budget. Hover or tap a bar to read the value.

Tasks completed by page response time

Illustrative data, not a measurement
Hover a bar.

Steps to checkout

Each extra step is another place to stall. Switch the cut to see how the same store behaves for a patient and an impatient agent budget.

Tasks completed by steps to checkout

Illustrative data, not a measurement
Hover a bar.

What to take from it

The exact numbers will differ for every store and every agent. The direction will not. Fewer steps and faster answers keep more tasks alive. That is why we measure agent readiness instead of guessing at it.

Questions that come up

Are these numbers real?

No. They are illustrative, built to show the shape of the problem, and every chart is labeled that way. They are not measurements from a live study.

What do the patient and strict budgets mean?

It is the same store viewed through two time budgets: an agent that waits longer and one that gives up sooner. The strict budget loses more tasks at every step count.

What should a store take from this?

The exact numbers will differ for every store and every agent. The direction will not: fewer steps and faster answers keep more tasks alive.

How does a store find its own numbers?

By measuring them rather than guessing. We make that case in Measurement before optimization.

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