---
title: Handling 1,000+ inbox messages during an Eid-ul-Fitr 2025 sale
description: "A plan for the last ten days of Ramadan: shifts, saved replies,
  delivery cut-offs and automation to answer 1,000+ Eid sale messages without
  losing orders."
url: https://salemag.net/blog/handle-eid-sale-inbox-rush
language: en
published: 2025-03-13
updated: 2025-03-13
author: SaleMag Team
tags:
  - eid sale
  - eid-ul-fitr 2025
  - inbox management
  - f-commerce
  - shared inbox
---

# Handling 1,000+ inbox messages during an Eid-ul-Fitr 2025 sale

> To handle 1,000+ messages a day in an Eid sale, split the inbox into what automation answers and what people answer. Let a bot handle price, stock and delivery questions, staff the after-iftar and late-night peaks, use saved replies, and announce delivery cut-off dates early, separately for Inside and Outside Dhaka.

- Eid-ul-Fitr 2025 in Bangladesh is expected on or around 31 March, depending on the moon, so plan the rush from about 20 March.
- Messages peak after iftar and late at night, not during office hours; staff the shifts to match.
- Announce separate order cut-off dates for Outside Dhaka and Inside Dhaka well before chand raat.
- Routine questions should be answered automatically; people should work handovers, complaints and order problems.
- Track first response time daily so you see a backlog forming before customers do.

The last ten days of Ramadan are the busiest stretch of the year for most Facebook and WhatsApp shops in Bangladesh. Salaries and Eid bonuses land, families shop for panjabis, sarees and kids' outfits, and the inbox stops looking like an inbox. It looks like a queue outside a shop in New Market.

For this year, Ramadan began on 2 March 2025, and Eid-ul-Fitr is expected on or around Monday, 31 March, depending on the moon sighting. So the real rush runs from about 20 March to chand raat, with delivery cut-offs in the middle of it.

This is a working plan for a shop that expects more than 1,000 messages a day in that window: how to split the work, how to staff it, what to automate and what to tell customers about delivery.

## Why does an Eid sale inbox fall apart?

An Eid inbox falls apart because the volume arrives in short peaks, the same five questions repeat hundreds of times, and delivery deadlines turn ordinary questions into urgent ones. A team that is fine at 150 messages a day doesn't scale to 1,000 by working harder.

Look at a hypothetical day for a mid-sized clothing Page. Say it gets 1,100 messages on 24 March:

| Time (Dhaka) | Share of the day | What people ask |
|---|---|---|
| 10 am to 3 pm | Low | Order status, exchange questions |
| 3 pm to iftar | Low to medium | Price and size, mostly from office phones |
| After iftar to 10 pm | Highest | Price, stock, delivery charge, "order korbo" |
| 10 pm to 1 am | High | After taraweeh browsing, new orders |
| 1 am to sehri | Medium | Late shoppers, "kalke pabo?" |

The pattern is the point, not the numbers: your busiest hours are when your team would normally be at iftar, at prayers, or asleep.

## What should be automated and what needs a person?

Split every message into two piles: questions with a fixed answer from your data, and situations that need judgement. Automation should handle the first pile in full, so people can spend their time on the second.

| Automate | Keep for a person |
|---|---|
| Price, size, colour, stock | Complaints and wrong items |
| Delivery charge and delivery time | Bulk orders for family or office gifts |
| COD and exchange policy | Custom sizes or alterations |
| Cut-off dates and "after Eid" delivery | Changes to an order already placed |
| Collecting name, phone, address | Angry or confused customers |
| "Where is my order?" for recorded statuses | Anything the bot is unsure about |

In a typical clothing shop, most messages fall in the left column. That is why automation changes the staffing maths so much.

## How do you staff an inbox for 1,000 messages a day?

Staff the peaks, not the clock. Give each shift one clear job, and keep one person on handovers and complaints so nothing urgent sits in the general queue.

A sample rota for a four-person team, with automation answering routine questions:

| Shift | Hours | Who | Main job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day | 11 am to 5 pm | 1 person | Order confirmations, status questions, exchanges |
| Evening | 5 pm to 11 pm, with an iftar break | 2 people | Handovers, new orders, photo questions |
| Night | 10 pm to 2 am | 1 person | Late orders, complaints, morning handover notes |

Stagger iftar so the inbox is never empty at sunset. One person breaks fast at the shop with a phone, the other covers twenty minutes later.

Keep a single rule for the whole team: **one chat, one owner.** If two people reply to the same customer with two different delivery dates, you will spend the next day fixing it.

## What should you tell customers about delivery cut-offs?

Tell customers the last order date for Eid delivery in every reply that talks about delivery, with separate dates for Outside Dhaka and Inside Dhaka. Most Eid complaints come from customers who assumed their parcel would arrive in time.

Ask your courier for their last pickup day before the holidays, then set your own cut-off a day or two before it. Outside Dhaka needs the earlier date. Once you know the dates, write them everywhere: the pinned post, the Page cover, your saved replies and the chatbot's instructions.

Sample replies, with placeholder dates:

```
Eid er age delivery chaile Dhakar baire order korte hobe 24 March er moddhe, Dhakar bhitore 27 March er moddhe. Er pore order dile Eid er pore delivery hobe.
```

```
ঈদের আগে ডেলিভারি পেতে ঢাকার বাইরে ২৪ মার্চ আর ঢাকার ভেতরে ২৭ মার্চের মধ্যে অর্ডার করুন। এর পরের অর্ডার ঈদের পরে পৌঁছাবে।
```

After the cut-off, keep selling, but say so up front. "Order nite parbo, kintu delivery hobe Eid er pore" is a sale. A customer who discovers that on Eid morning is a refund and a one-star review.

## Which saved replies should you prepare before the rush?

Prepare saved replies for every message your team types more than ten times a day, and write them before 20 March, not during the peak. Good saved replies are short and specific.

The essential set:

- **Cut-off dates**, in Banglish and Bangla.
- **Exchange rule** for Eid purchases, such as size exchange within a few days.
- **Order received**: "Apnar order ta peyechi, kalker moddhe call kore confirm korbo."
- **Late delivery apology**, with the new date.
- **Out of stock**, with one alternative: "Ei color ta shesh, navy blue te ache. Pathabo chobi?"
- **Holiday hours**: when you close for Eid and when you reopen.

Update the saved replies the moment something changes. A stock sell-out or a courier delay should change your replies within the hour.

## How do you keep track of response time during the sale?

Measure first response time every day, and look at the night shift separately. A rising response time is the earliest sign of a backlog, a day or two before the complaints start.

Each morning, check three things:

1. How long customers waited for a first reply, by shift.
2. How many chats are still open from yesterday.
3. Which questions came up most that the bot or saved replies didn't cover.

Feed the third answer straight back into the bot's knowledge and your saved replies.

## How does SaleMag help with an Eid inbox rush?

SaleMag puts Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram chats into one [shared inbox](https://salemag.net/features/shared-inbox) where each conversation can be assigned to one teammate, labelled ("Eid order", "Complaint"), and answered with saved replies you insert with a slash shortcut. The inbox report shows median first response time, median resolution time and a per-agent leaderboard, so the morning review takes minutes.

SaleMag's AI chatbot answers routine questions from your product list and policies in Bangla, Banglish or English, and with order taking on it collects delivery details on an order form. Put the cut-off dates and offer rules into its instructions and every answer will repeat them. When it is unsure, or a customer asks for a person, it hands the chat to your team with a [human handover](https://salemag.net/glossary/human-handover), and it stays quiet for 15 minutes after a teammate replies. On WhatsApp, keyword, welcome and away rules can cover your Eid holiday hours.

Before the sale, make sure the bot answers your top price questions correctly. The [guide to answering 'price koto?' automatically](https://salemag.net/blog/answer-price-koto-messages-automatically) shows how to prepare the catalog.

## What should you do after Eid?

After Eid, clear the backlog first, then turn the rush into a customer list. Answer every chat left open over the holidays, starting with complaints and order problems.

On WhatsApp, remember the 24-hour rule: once 24 hours have passed since the customer's last message, you can only reach them with an approved template. On Messenger, Meta also limits messages after 24 hours. Answer quickly after reopening, and use the quiet week to label your Eid buyers for the next sale.

## Next steps

Today, ask your courier for their last pickup date before Eid, write your two cut-off dates, and draft six saved replies. Then test your bot against the twenty questions you expect most.

[Start free with SaleMag](https://salemag.net/register) to set up the shared inbox and chatbot before the rush, or [see pricing](https://salemag.net/pricing).

## Steps

1. **Fix your dates**: Get your courier’s last pickup date before Eid and set separate order cut-offs for Outside Dhaka and Inside Dhaka.
2. **Load the sale into your data**: Update prices, stock and offer rules in your product list and bot instructions before the first sale post goes out.
3. **Write saved replies**: Prepare short saved replies for cut-off dates, exchange rules, order status and late delivery.
4. **Plan the shifts**: Staff the after-iftar and late-night peaks, with one person assigned to handovers and complaints.
5. **Review every morning**: Check first response time, unanswered chats and common questions each morning, and update the bot and saved replies.

## FAQ

### When is Eid-ul-Fitr 2025 in Bangladesh?

Eid-ul-Fitr 2025 in Bangladesh is expected on or around Monday, 31 March 2025, subject to the National Moon Sighting Committee’s decision on the sighting of the Shawwal moon. Plan your sale and delivery cut-offs with a day either side.

### When do Eid sale messages peak?

Eid sale messages usually peak in the last ten days of Ramadan, especially after iftar and late at night. The day of the final salary or bonus payout and chand raat often bring the biggest spikes.

### How many people do I need to handle 1,000 messages a day?

It depends on how many messages automation answers. If a bot handles routine price and delivery questions, a small team of three or four people across shifts can often work the handovers; without automation you need several times that.

### What is the last day to take Eid orders?

There is no single date. Ask your courier for their last pickup day before Eid, then set your own cut-off a day or two earlier, with an earlier date for Outside Dhaka than for Inside Dhaka.

### Should the chatbot keep taking orders after the delivery cut-off?

Yes, but only if the reply clearly says the order will be delivered after Eid. Put the cut-off date and the after-Eid delivery note into the bot’s instructions so every answer says it.

### What should I do with messages that arrive during the Eid holidays?

Set an away message that says when you reopen and when delivery resumes, and let an AI chatbot keep answering product questions. On WhatsApp, reply within 24 hours of the customer’s last message, or you will need an approved template.