Is there a way to postpone the signup process in the Webflow ecommerce checkout, so that users can purchase a product/access first and then receive an email invitation to create their account? If not, can this be achieved by using a manually added Stripe checkout integrated with Zapier and the Webflow API?
TL;DR
- Webflow requires account creation before purchase and doesn’t support delayed signup natively.
- Use Stripe Checkout for payment, trigger Zapier on success to add users to Webflow CMS and send post-purchase emails with signup or access links.
Webflow’s native ecommerce checkout flow requires account creation before purchase, and currently does not support a delayed sign-up flow out of the box. However, you can implement a custom checkout flow using Stripe Checkout, paired with Zapier and Webflow’s CMS API, to achieve the behavior you described.
1. Native Webflow Ecommerce Limitations
- Webflow requires customers to submit their email and shipping/payment info during checkout.
- If you enable “Require account”, they must sign up before completing the purchase.
- There’s no built-in way to delay account creation or send a post-purchase invitation.
2. Custom Stripe Checkout Integration
To bypass this limitation, build an external checkout flow as follows:
- Use Stripe Checkout (hosted pay page) instead of Webflow’s built-in checkout.
- Create a Webflow page with a “Buy Now” button linked to a backend service or directly to a Stripe Checkout Session.
- After successful payment, Stripe can trigger a webhook to Zapier or a custom server.
3. Use Zapier to Handle Post-Purchase Logic
Set up a Zap to perform the following actions after purchase:
- Trigger: Stripe payment success (via Zapier’s Stripe integration).
- Action 1: Create a new User or Subscriber entry in Webflow’s CMS, if needed.
- Action 2: Send a custom email via Mailchimp, Gmail, Postmark, SendGrid, or similar with a link to create an account or access content.
- You can store temporary access credentials, a signup link, or a time-limited token in the email.
4. Optional: Use Webflow API for Site Content Access
- If you're gating content via CMS Collections, use Webflow’s CMS API to assign customers access-based content after purchase.
- Note: Webflow does not allow custom user authentication flows out of the box, so full gated member areas would require integration with third-party tools like Memberstack, Outseta, or Firebase.
Summary
Webflow does not allow delaying user signup within its native checkout flow, but you can replicate this behavior using Stripe Checkout + Zapier + Webflow CMS API. This approach lets users pay first and receive a post-purchase email invitation, without signing up beforehand.