A close friend launched Plate Perfect, a UK brand selling road legal 3D and 4D number plates, and asked me to support development and consult on the Shopify store. I built a complete theme around one job: type your reg, see your plates come to life, add them to the basket. Everything runs on Shopify itself, so there are no app fees and nothing to break.
The builder, reviews and basket are part of the store, not add-ons. That keeps it quick, cheap to run and simple to own.
Most plate sites are busy: bright reds, carbon-fibre textures, dozens of sizes in one dropdown, and a preview that scrolls away while you pick options. The brief was the opposite. A modern, minimal store with one funnel: from the homepage straight into a plate builder, then the basket.
Road legal plates come with real rules too: the legal font and spacing, BS AU 145e markings, and photo ID plus a V5C before anything is made. The builder had to make those easy rather than scary, and keep every order correct.
And it had to stay simple to own. No subscription apps, no page builder, nothing that breaks when an app updates. Just Shopify.
The preview is drawn at true plate size, down to the millimetre. What you see is what gets made.
Four finishes (standard 2D, 3D gel, 4D acrylic, 4D gel), pair, front or rear, five plate sizes, UK, GB, ENG, SCO and CYM badges and the green flash for EVs.
Character limits per plate size, current-style regs spaced AB12 CDE, and an ID and V5C confirmation before the plates can be added.
Plates and add-ons go in together. Badges and fitting kits stay linked to their plates: change the quantity or remove the plates and they follow.
Registration, finish, badge and the exact size of each plate in millimetres go on the order, so production never has to guess.
The design lives in the URL, so a customer can send it to someone or come back to it later.
Was prices and savings on the options and in the basket, an empty basket that starts a build, and secure checkout reassurance under the button.
No page builder, no app subscriptions, no widgets. Everything the store needs is part of the theme, so it's quick, cheap to run and simple to edit.
One product with every finish, pair and size, so prices and stock are managed in Shopify like any other product. Badges and fitting kits are their own products, kept out of search and collections.
Customer reviews, with photos, are managed in Shopify and shown across the store. No review app and no monthly fee.
Stripped back to only what the buying journey needs. Collections, search and add-on pages all lead to the builder.
The theme refuses any plate added to the basket without a registration, keeps add-ons in step with their plates, and hides internal notes from the customer while keeping them on the order.
The price and Add to basket stay pinned to the bottom, and a compact plate bar follows you down the options so the plates are always in view.
A new wordmark and favicon, and a dark workshop look with a single spotlight on the plates.
A short launch film to introduce the brand, show off the plates and send people straight to the builder.
I've spent 7+ years in paid advertising, agency-side and in-house, most recently as Head of Paid Search for 3+ years at Soar With Us, a D2C agency, growing brands to 8+ figures. I've since started Pavegrowth to continue my love of building and growing brands with that expertise.
Alongside the ad accounts I build Shopify themes, iOS apps and software products, including my own. Growth marketing and development under one roof. I utilise AI workstreams to support moving faster & streamlining internal & client workflows to ensure efficiency, whilst the strategy, judgement and accountability are mine. You talk directly to the person doing the work.
Thirty minutes to get to know your brand, your goals and where the growth is. No pitch deck, just a straight conversation about where we'd take it next.
I'll get back to you shortly about your request. Looking forward to learning more about your project & goals!
