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Before Blue Yonder, Purina’s space planning efforts were fragmented and often manual. As a supplier working exclusively through reselling channels, Purina does not sell directly to consumers—its success depends on helping retail partners create compelling in-store and digital experiences. As the retail landscape rapidly evolved, traditional methods of planogramming and space planning began falling short.
By implementing Blue Yonder category management solutions, Purina has turned scattered data into a centralized source of truth. Blue Yonder became essential for the company’s internal team, known as ‘The Hub’, which supports sales and category planning by integrating and visualizing data for strategic, unified decision-making.
Blue Yonder planogram generator became the kickoff point. “Rather than staring at a blank canvas, Blue Yonder provides a place to start, offers recommendations, and prompts us to ask bigger questions around shopper behavior,” says Gene Feldman, Training Manager, Center of Functional Excellence at Nestlé Purina. With this foundation in place, space planning and floor planning brought the vision to life—connecting aisle-level insights and optimizing store layout across different retailers.
This transformation was not just operational—it was cultural. By telling better stories with its data, Purina began to resonate emotionally with retailers. “We really love being able to tell a good narrative with our product. We love that emotional connection,” Feldman says.
Bringing the “Phygital Shelf” to life
One of the most innovative outcomes of Purina’s journey has been the emergence of “Phygital Shelves”—the petcare company’s term for store layouts that blend physical and digital shelf elements.
With support from Blue Yonder and Blue Yonder partner 3DVR Solutions, Purina began offering virtual reality-rendered walkthroughs of category plans. Retail partners could experience a 360-degree view of the shelf layout, removing the need for costly travel or physical product samples. Purina can also avoid the need to go in-store to conduct a walkthrough, as customers can experience entire categories virtually, all through VR headsets.
This approach not only increases efficiency, but creates a digital playground—a collaborative environment to iterate and innovate with retail partners. It significantly improves Purina’s unified decision-making, shortens planning cycles, and boosts retailer confidence.
The transformation extends beyond tools into behavior. Purina’s internal language has shifted, with teams adopting new terms like ‘Phygital Shelf,’ signaling genuine engagement and acceptance of new ways of working.
Speeding up retailer alignment through unified decisioning
The most impactful result has been Purina’s ability to secure retailer buy-in faster than ever before. By using immersive visuals and unified data through Blue Yonder and 3DVR Solutions, Purina reduces friction and uncertainty in plan reviews. Retailers can now see how proposed changes look, function, and support category goals, leading to accelerated approvals and reducing time-to-market.
“Rather than constantly starting and stopping, our customers see our vision and sign up with it,” says Feldman. The result has been a dramatic improvement in ‘speed to yes’—one of the company’s core performance metrics.
Futureproofing through ecosystems and innovation
Looking ahead, Nestlé Purina is committed to future-proofing its operations by bringing emerging technologies together in a unified ecosystem. Blue Yonder remains at the center of this strategy, supported by a growing network of partners and integrated innovations.
“We see AI, the Metaverse, and other technologies from Blue Yonder as pieces of a much bigger puzzle. We want to be ready on day one to respond to our customers as technology evolves,” Feldman says.
Blue Yonder’s openness and extensibility are enabling Purina to continuously adapt, experiment, and grow with confidence. By investing in collaborative digital ecosystems and tools that align with its customers’ needs, Nestlé Purina is not just keeping pace—it’s shaping the future of retail. “Blue Yonder has been a tremendous partner to us. That’s why it’s hard to answer the question of what the world was like before Blue Yonder. It’s always been there with us,” Feldman says.
