How fast do I have to answer customer messages as an Argos marketplace seller?
24 business hours, Monday to Friday 9–5 UK time. What counts as a customer message on Argos, why five of every six inbox items are operator notices, when customers write, and how one seller's replies measured up over 90 days.
Argos gives a seller 24 business hours from the customer's message, counted Monday to Friday 9 to 5 UK time, public holidays excluded. Most of what lands in the Argos seller inbox is not a customer at all: in 90 days one UK furniture seller received 139 customer conversations and 698 operator notices on Argos.
What counts as a customer message on Argos?
Argos runs on Mirakl. Three kinds of item reach the seller inbox. A customer message, written by the buyer through the Argos order page. An operator message, where Argos customer service relays or asks a question. And an operator notice such as “Supplier must contact the customer”, which Argos generates when a buyer opens a case on their side.
The notice looks like a message, carries the customer's name, and is marked as sent by the customer. It is a task with a deadline, and it is the majority of the inbox. Over 90 days the split was 139 customer conversations to 698 notices: five notices for every real conversation.
When do Argos customers write?
Of the 139 conversations, 42% started outside 9 to 5 on a weekday, and 11% started on a Saturday or Sunday. The clock does not run overnight or at the weekend, so a Friday 18:00 message is due Tuesday 17:00, and a message on a bank holiday Monday is due Wednesday. A Sunday message and a Monday 08:59 message have the same deadline. How the clocks work, with the bank-holiday case.
What do Argos customers write about?
Argos orders in this sample were mostly large furniture delivered by courier on a booked date; when the date moves, the customer writes within hours. The reply to both delivery reasons comes from the tracking page, which is why the order and the tracking number belong beside the message.
How fast did the seller actually answer?
Both numbers include nights and weekends, so they overstate the business-hours delay. The gap between 85% and 100% is almost entirely messages that arrived on Friday evening or Saturday and were answered on Monday, which is inside the Argos rule and outside what the customer expected.
What should the inbox do about it?
- Separate operator notices from customer conversations before anyone reads them. The notices have their own deadline, and mixing them with customer messages hides both.
- Sort by time left on the Argos clock, so a Friday 16:30 message with 30 business minutes left sits above a Monday 09:10 message with a full day.
- Send a short acknowledgement to messages that arrive outside 9 to 5, saying when a person will reply. Cap how many go out per run, and never send one to a thread where the customer did not write last. Why the cap exists.
- Keep the order, the carrier and the tracking number beside the message. Two of the three top reasons are answered from the tracking page.
- Argos: 24 business hours, Mon–Fri 9–5 UK, public holidays excluded.
- Five operator notices for every customer conversation; give them their own list.
- 42% of customer messages arrive outside hours; the clock waits, the customer does not.
- Item not received and delivery delay lead; the answer is on the tracking page.
Questions people ask
Does the Argos response time count weekends?
No. Argos counts business hours, Monday to Friday 9 to 5 UK time, and excludes public holidays. A message on Saturday morning has the same deadline as one on Monday at 09:00.
Are "Supplier must contact the customer" notices counted against the SLA?
They carry their own deadline, set by Argos when the customer opens a case. Treat them as tasks: contact the customer through the order thread and record it. They should not sit in the same list as customer conversations.
Can I send an automatic reply on Argos outside business hours?
Yes, as an acknowledgement that tells the customer when a person will follow up. Keep it short, without links or contact details, and limit how many go out per run.