# Retail Stock Ordering: Two questions every product business must answer

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-resilient-retail-game-plan-retail-insights-retail-trends-and-best-practices-1259764/retail-stock-ordering-two-questions-every-product-business-must-answer.md
Podcast: [The Resilient Retail Game Plan - retail insights, retail trends and best practices](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-resilient-retail-game-plan-retail-insights-retail-trends-and-best-practices-1259764)
Published: 2026-05-14T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: http://www.resilientretailclub.com/
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/e94c5c45-f0a0-417f-b4d4-e2a0f5a062b5.mp3
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Duration seconds: 780

## Resource

"How much should I order?" sounds like one question. It's actually two — and most product business owners only ever answer one of them. (This episode features a free download resource at http://resilientretailclub.com/order ) Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club , Catherine Erdly . In this episode, I'm breaking down the critical difference between product-level stock ordering (the tactical "how many of this line") and business-level stock planning (the strategic "what can I afford overall"). Drawing on my time as a buyer at Paperchase and the frameworks in my book Tame Your Tiger , I'll explain why forecasting apps, Shopify Sidekick , ChatGPT and Claude can all give you the right answer to the wrong question — and how that slowly turns a healthy business into a cash-hungry "tiger". In this episode: Why most stock forecasting tools assume you have unlimited cash The simple reorder calculation that still matters What "the tail" is Three better questions to ask before you place a single order The supermarket scanner analogy that makes stock budgeting click If you're constantly reordering but never feel on top of your stock, pause and plan with this one. 🐅 Tame Your Tiger — my book on stock, cash flow and building a calmer product business 💬 Come and say hi on Instagram: @resilientretailclub Prefer to watch podcasts? Here's mine - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwFwdhK_WMJvXntxKLZj83Inz1fFNAN2P Mentioned in this episode: Faire 50% off - use code 'Resilient50'

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