Client case study
Derbyshire Plates already sold custom plates. The old site just made buying one harder than it needed to be. So we took their products and built a plate builder on Shopify: type in your reg, watch it appear on the plate, pick the style and size, add a border or badge, and pay through a checkout people already know.
Reviewed September 2026
Client
Derbyshire Plates
Sector
Custom number plates
Platform
Shopify
Project
Registration plate builder + shop
Plate builder preview
Live preview
Road legalSample plate for illustration
Character style
Options
The challenge
Everything a buyer needed was on the old site somewhere. The buying experience around it was the problem. Here are the three things that got in the way, and what we did about each.
The old site had clear product photos, but it was hard to tell how your own plate would actually turn out. You were buying on trust rather than on what you could see.
So we built a custom plate builder. Designing your plate now feels a bit like playing with it: you make a change and the plate in front of you changes too.
The only way to personalise a plate was a free-text box just before checkout. If you wanted something specific, you typed it in and hoped it came out right.
So we put the real choices on the page: a black border, badges, and the other legal options for a road plate, each one set and shown before you pay.
Road-legal plates need proof of ID, and gathering those documents after an order had already come in was a constant hassle for the client.
So we moved it up front. Customers upload their documents before they can check out, and nothing gets made until the paperwork is in. We also added WhatsApp, so any question about an order is one message away.
The build
Instead of one long product page with a wall of options, the builder asks one thing at a time. Every choice updates the preview, so nobody reaches the checkout unsure of what they just designed.
This is the flow we built for Derbyshire Plates, in the order a customer works through it.
They type their reg once and it appears on the plate straight away. The preview keeps up as they change things, so the finished look is never a surprise.
Front, rear, or a matched pair. A pair is the default, since that is what most people are after anyway.
Standard, 3D gel, or 4D laser-cut characters. Each one shows on the preview, so you can see the difference instead of guessing from a description.
Standard road size, plus shorter, square, and motorbike options for imports and awkward mounts, so the plate fits the car it is going on.
A black surround, side badges like GB or UK, the finishing touches that used to be a free-text box are now things you click and watch appear. All of them are legal on a road plate.
Before anyone can pay, a road-legal order asks for the documents that prove the plate is theirs to buy. The files go up there and then, and nothing goes into production until the paperwork is in.
From there, Shopify handles the rest: payment, delivery options, discount codes, and the order emails. It is the same checkout people have used on plenty of other shops, so paying feels routine.
Why Shopify
People bail on small shops they have never bought from. Shopify's checkout is one they have almost certainly used before, which takes that worry off the table.
Products, prices, orders, refunds, discount codes: the client handles all of it from one dashboard. The everyday stuff does not need a developer, or us.
New plate styles, accessories, and offers slot in without a rebuild. When the shop needs more, Shopify's apps and reports are already there.
The outcome
On the new shop, designing the plate is part of the fun, and buying it is the easy bit at the end. That was the whole goal.
I thought the website is great, really well put together and easy to follow. Honestly way better than any other plate website I've seen.
They already had a site that sold plates, but it was not built around how people actually buy a custom one. The job was to turn a plain catalogue into a guided buying experience.
A registration plate builder on Shopify. Customers enter their reg, see a live preview, and pick the plate type, style, size, border, and badge. Road-legal orders upload their documents before a standard Shopify checkout.
Shopify gives customers a checkout they already know and gives the client a dashboard they can run themselves. It handles payments, shipping, discounts, and order emails out of the box, and leaves room to add products without a rebuild.
Yes. Derbyshire Plates is a real client build. Where a figure or screenshot is not shown yet, it is because we only publish real numbers and real images, never invented ones.
Yes. If your customers configure what they buy, whether that is plates, signage, print, or made-to-order items, we can build the same kind of guided builder and shop for you. Ask for a quote and tell us what you sell.
Where to go next, whether you want to see more work or start your own project.
See more real client builds and concept designs, each labelled for what it is.
Tell us what you sell and how customers order it, and get a quote back without a sales call.
The service behind this build: online shops and guided product builders for small businesses.
The parent page for how we build fast, trustworthy websites for UK small businesses.
Sell something people customise?
If your customers configure what they buy, whether that is plates, signage, print, or made-to-order products, we can build the same kind of visual buying experience around it. Tell us what you sell and we will show you how it could work.
