Order Confirmation Email: Send Receipts Automatically

Someone has paid you. The next thing they look for is an email saying the order went through. An order confirmation email answers the three questions every buyer has in that moment: did it work, what did I get, and what happens now?

This guide is for people selling through a SaaS, site or tool built with Claude Code. It covers what to put in the email, how it goes out at the right moment, what to tell Claude Code, and how it fits with receipts and invoices.

It's one of the 12 transactional emails every SaaS needs. A transactional email is a one-to-one email your project sends because of something a person did, like paying or signing up.

What should an order confirmation email include?

A good order confirmation email confirms the payment worked, lists what was bought and tells the customer what happens next. Keep it short enough to read on a phone in a few seconds.

Never include a full card number.

For physical goods, add the delivery address and shipping time, and say tracking will follow. For something digital, such as credits or a template pack, the "what happens next" line matters most: one clear button to start using it.

How does the email get sent after payment?

The email should go out when your payment provider confirms the payment, not when the customer lands on your thank-you page. Stripe's own guide warns against relying on that page alone, because a customer can pay and then lose their internet connection before it loads.

Here's what happens instead, with Stripe as the example:

1. The customer pays on Stripe's checkout page.
2. Stripe sends your project a message saying the payment succeeded. This is called a webhook: an automatic notice one service sends another when something happens.
3. Your project records the order and asks SimpleSends to send the confirmation.
4. SimpleSends delivers it to the customer's inbox.

Claude Code isn't involved at that moment. Your live project does this on its own, at any hour. For more on the Stripe side, see how to send your own emails after a Stripe payment.

Mention two details to Claude Code:

• The same payment notice can arrive more than once. Without a check, a customer could get two confirmations for one order.
• Some payments take days. For bank debits and transfers, Stripe sends a separate notice when the payment succeeds, and the confirmation should wait for it. If a delayed payment fails instead, that's a job for a payment failed email.

What to tell Claude Code

Brief Claude Code the way you'd brief a developer you'd hired. SimpleSends connects to Claude Code as a connector, also called an MCP server: a way for Claude Code to use another service while you build. If you haven't connected yet, start with how to send emails from Claude Code.

When someone pays for an order through Stripe, send them an order confirmation email through SimpleSends. Include their name, the order number, what they bought, the total, the date, what happens next and how to reach us. Only send it once Stripe confirms the payment has gone through, including slower bank payments, and make sure nobody gets the same confirmation twice. Show me a preview before you build it.

What to expect: Claude Code drafts the email and shows you a preview. Once you approve it, Claude Code connects the email to the payment notice and sends a test to your own inbox.

Then give feedback as you would to a person:

Put the "Start using your credits" button right under the thank-you line, and add our support hours next to the help link.

Selling plans rather than one-off orders? See the subscription confirmation email guide.

Sample order confirmation email

Here's an example for a SaaS selling a one-off pack of credits.

SubjectOrder #1042 confirmed: 500 report credits

Hi Sam,

Thanks for your order. Your payment went through and your credits are ready to use.

Order #1042 · October 5, 2026

500 report credits × 1: $49.00

Tax: $0.00

Total paid: $49.00 (Visa ending 4417)

Start using your credits

Your credits don't expire, and you can check your balance any time on your account page.

Questions about this order? Reply to this email or write to hello@yourcompany.com. Mention order #1042 and we'll find it straight away.

The team at [Your company]

[Your company] · [Business address]

Order confirmations, receipts and invoices: what's the difference?

An order confirmation says "we've got your order." A receipt proves the payment happened. An invoice is a formal document with business and tax details. For a one-off digital purchase, one email can do the first two jobs.

Using Stripe's receipts alongside your own email

Stripe can email receipts for you. In Stripe's dashboard, open Settings, then Business, then Customer emails, and switch on Successful payments. Receipts only go out when a payment succeeds. Stripe's receipts always show your legal business name, a support address and email, and a link to your privacy policy, and you can add your logo and colors under Branding.

With Stripe's receipts on, the customer gets two emails. That works well if yours focuses on what happens next. If you'd rather send one purchase confirmation email, switch Stripe's receipts off and ask Claude Code to make your confirmation double as the receipt.

I've switched off Stripe's automatic receipts. Make our order confirmation work as the receipt too: add our business name and address, the payment date, and the card type and last four digits.

When testing, note that Stripe doesn't send automatic receipts for test payments. To see one, you send it manually from that payment's page.

Invoices

Stripe can create a paid invoice for one-off Checkout payments and email the customer links to download the invoice and receipt as PDFs. For one-off purchases this costs extra: 0.4% of the transaction, up to $2 per invoice. For subscriptions, it's included in Stripe Billing pricing. To send your own, see how to email invoices automatically and how to send emails with attachments.

How do you test it before customers see it?

Test with a pretend purchase first. In Stripe's test mode, no real money moves.

1. Ask Claude Code to make sure your checkout is in Stripe test mode and to give you the test card details.
2. Buy something on your own checkout page.
3. Check the email arrives with the right name, items, total and links.
4. Open it on your phone as well as your computer.
5. Ask Claude Code to confirm only one email went out for that order.

I've placed a test order. Check that exactly one confirmation email went out for it, and tell me what SimpleSends shows for that send.

Claude Code can read your send logs through SimpleSends, so it can tell you whether the email was sent and delivered. See also how to test your emails before your users see them and how to check whether your emails actually sent.