Save and send an email to the customer

I remember when I first set out to build an automation that would save and send an email to a customer who purchased a product on Stripe. At the time, I was working with a client who had a variety of digital products—mostly in e-book form—and needed an efficient way to store buyer data, send personalized emails, and stay informed of each sale in real-time. This project forced me to dive deep into Stripe’s webhook features, connect everything via Make, and then integrate platforms like Notion, Slack, and Gmail. Although it took me a couple of weeks to iron out some challenges, I can now say it runs like clockwork.

I created this automation primarily for merchants using Stripe for product sales. That includes digital entrepreneurs, subscription-based businesses, and one-time payment scenarios. In my client’s case, she sold multiple e-books, and each product warranted its own welcome email. Additionally, she wanted the convenience of having sales recorded in Notion (with details like product names, some IDs, and customer emails) and receiving Slack notifications whenever a sale occurred.

Initially, my client and I also considered using n8n, but Make made more sense for cost-saving reasons. My client was already using Stripe, which dispatches real-time notifications about every sale. From there, I feed that data into Notion, label each new record with the product purchased, and then use Slack to post a message to the #sales channel. Gmail then sends a personalized, brand-aligned email to the customer. This sequence ensures both the seller and the customer receive up-to-date information the moment a purchase goes through.

Stripe: Acts as the payment gateway and sends event data through webhooks.

Make: The automation engine that connects Stripe data to Notion, Slack, and Gmail.

Notion: Stores sales information, including product-specific data so my client can later filter for refunds or subscription details.

Slack: Receives alerts whenever a sale happens, making it easy for anyone on the team to see who bought what.

Gmail: Sends a custom email to the buyer, complete with a thank-you note and any relevant links (for instance, instructions to download the purchased e-book).

My client and I also considered using tools like Airtable or Google Sheets as a database, but Notion worked best for her.

If, down the road, my client wants to send an additional email to everyone who bought a specific product, it’s easy to filter by that product inside Notion and build a targeted email campaign.

One of the biggest hurdles I faced was extracting precise product details from the Stripe webhook. Since my client had multiple e-books and subscription tiers, we needed a foolproof way to figure out exactly which product was sold. Stripe’s panel can be confusing, and we realized that not every endpoint gave us the complete data set we needed.

We spent two weeks experimenting with various endpoints. We chose the correct event type for the Stripe webhook, then applied a filter based on the product link so we could identify product names accurately.

Once I resolved the webhook quirks, the automation transformed how my client manages sales. She no longer has to jump between Stripe and Notion to keep up with orders. The moment a buyer purchases a product, the system updates the database, sends a custom email, and pings the Slack channel with the relevant information. This simplicity frees her and her team to focus on more strategic tasks.

My client also appreciates how quickly she can use Notion to slice and dice her customer data for new campaigns. If she wants to launch a limited-time discount for everyone who bought “E-Book A,” she can filter that group in seconds and build a targeted email campaign.

Feel free to reach out if you want to create a similar setup or enhance your existing workflow. I’d be glad to discuss how this type of automation can elevate your projects.