Retail Stock Ordering: Two questions every product business must answer

"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

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