Windshield Defense WordPress to Shopify Migration

A plugin-heavy WordPress and WooCommerce store, moved to Shopify with a custom dealer and installer locator at the center of the build.

Windshield Defense moved from a plugin-heavy WordPress and WooCommerce site to Shopify. The build included a custom Google Maps dealer and installer locator, a dealer-only wholesale portal, an events page, and a clean launch with redirects in place.

Client / brand

Windshield Defense is a Racing Optics brand based in Las Vegas. It makes removable, multi-layer windshield protection film, the same tear-off idea used in racing, cut to fit the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator, Ford Bronco, INEOS Grenadier and Mercedes G-Class. Shoppers can install it themselves or have it put on at a Mopar dealer or Tint World location.

The business sells two ways: direct to consumers, and wholesale to dealers and installers who stock and install the product. The website has to serve both, and help a shopper find someone nearby who can install it.

• Client: Windshield Defense by Racing Optics
• Store: windshielddefense.com
• Region: Las Vegas, Nevada (ships across the US)
• Engagement: WordPress to Shopify migration, custom dealer locator, wholesale portal, launch
• Industry: Automotive accessories

Challenge

The old site ran on WordPress and WooCommerce with the Divi theme on metered hosting. It was a simple store with a handful of products carrying a lot of weight: a long list of plugins, slow WooCommerce processing, accessibility gaps, and constant plugin updates and conflicts.

The store also had jobs that a basic Shopify setup does not cover out of the box. The installer map ran on a WordPress store locator plugin with a Google Maps key and a CSV of dealer locations. Dealers needed their own login, their own products and minimums, and their own forms, including W9 uploads. Events, rebates, Klaviyo, tax, tracking and an EDI order feed all had to keep working after the switch, and years of old URLs had to keep sending visitors to the right place.

Approach / what we built

• A custom dealer and installer locator. The most important piece of the build. We replaced the WordPress store locator plugin with a custom Shopify section built on the Google Maps API. Shoppers type an address or ZIP code, pick a search radius and number of results, and get a list of nearby installers sorted by distance, each with a phone number and a Directions button. The list and the map stay in sync, and pins are marked by installer type, so Mopar dealers and Tint World stores are easy to tell apart. The locator reads the same CSV format the old plugin exported, so the existing dealer list came over as is, and the Racing Optics team keeps it current by replacing a single file in Shopify.
• A wholesale dealer portal on the same store. Dealers log in to a separate side of the store. Dealer-only products stay hidden from retail shoppers, dealer packs carry a minimum order, and logged-in dealers land on a dealer homepage with the full installation training video. A Dealer / Installer Login button sits in the main header, and a Become a Dealer page and dealer forms (with file upload for W9s) handle new sign-ups.
• An events page the team can update. Windshield Defense shows up at Jeep and overland events across the country. We built a custom events section with date blocks, event names, booth numbers, locations, links to each event site, event logos, and an optional giveaway button, all editable in the Shopify theme editor.
• Products, apps and data moved over. We rebuilt the catalog on Shopify's Enterprise theme with vehicle-specific product pages, imported products with Matrixify, and set up Klaviyo, Elevar tracking, Avalara tax and form uploads. The order export that feeds the client's fulfillment partner was carried over and checked with live test orders at launch.
• A clean launch. At launch we pointed windshielddefense.com and racingopticsjeep.com at Shopify, cleaned product URLs of trademark symbols, and imported a 124 line redirect map so old WordPress links still land on the right pages. Test orders confirmed the full flow from cart to shipping confirmation email.

Before / after

The old WordPress and Divi site still runs today as the wholesale dealer site, with the same theme, header and store locator plugin the retail store used before the move. The before shots below come from that legacy site, and the after shots come from the live windshielddefense.com, both captured in October 2026.

Dealer and installer locator

The locator was the centerpiece of the project, and it shows the biggest change. The old plugin gave shoppers a plain search bar, a text list and a world zoom map with default pins. The new locator is built into the Shopify theme, with branded search controls, a distance sorted Nearby Installers list and a full width map.

The same search for ZIP code 80203 (Denver) on both versions. The plugin search used a default 50 mile radius and 25 results. The new locator returns nearby installers sorted by distance, with Mopar and other installer pins marked on the map.

Homepage

Before, a WordPress and Divi layout with a centered logo and a text menu. After, the Shopify Enterprise theme with search, vehicle navigation (Jeep, Bronco, INEOS, G-Wagon), a Dealer / Installer Login button and a video hero.

Events page

After (events): upcoming shows such as Easter Jeep Safari and Jeep Beach, each with dates, location, a link to the event site and an optional giveaway button, all managed in the theme editor.

Results

There are no verified before and after performance numbers for this project, so this section sticks to what shipped.

The new store went live on the evening of October 27, 2025. Both windshielddefense.com and racingopticsjeep.com now run on Shopify, old WordPress links redirect to their new pages, and test orders confirmed the full flow from cart to shipping confirmation email on launch night.

The custom locator replaced the WordPress plugin without losing any data, because it reads the same dealer file. The Racing Optics team updates that list themselves by replacing one file in Shopify. Retail shoppers and wholesale dealers now use one Shopify store, each with their own products, pages and login.

Results at a glance

• Platform: Shopify (from WordPress and WooCommerce)
• Domains moved: 2 (windshielddefense.com and racingopticsjeep.com)
• Redirects at launch: 124 (old WordPress URLs mapped to new Shopify URLs)
• Dealer and installer locations on the map: 2,600+ (as of October 2026)
• Vehicle platforms supported: 4 (Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator, Ford Bronco, INEOS Grenadier, Mercedes G-Class)

Period: Launched October 27, 2025.

Source: project records and launch notes from 2025, and the live site as of October 20, 2026. No conversion or revenue figures are claimed.

Stack / deliverables

• Platform: Shopify (Enterprise theme)
• Moved from: WordPress, WooCommerce and Divi
• Custom work: Google Maps dealer and installer locator, events section, dealer portal and dealer homepage
• Apps and integrations: Locksmith (dealer access), Matrixify (product import and order export), Klaviyo, Elevar, Avalara, Hulk Form Builder
• Launch: DNS cutover for two domains, 124 redirect import, live test orders
• Services: WordPress to Shopify migration, Custom Shopify section development, Dealer locator, Wholesale dealer portal, Launch and redirects

Work with us

Moving off a plugin-heavy WordPress or WooCommerce store, or need custom features like a dealer locator or wholesale portal on Shopify? Unrestrained Commerce, founded by Nick Perry, migrates and builds Shopify stores that do the jobs your business actually needs.