The two terms 'strategy' and 'tactics' are mostly used in the military context. However, they are an integral part of every life domain. Strategy - plan, tactics - the steps that lead us to the achievement of the plan, whatever that is. The two are closely related, both are necessary to achieve one's goal.
Here's a trivial example. That's quite a common thing with shoppers to forget some already paid item at the store. It sometimes happens to me too. The plan is to get the item (s) back smoothly and quickly, yet, that's not always easy. It depends on circumstances, time of shopping, the vendor, details of the item in the receipt, etc.. So, I have to choose carefully the 'tactics' to achieve the above goal .
Usually, and based on my past experience, I won't call the store in question beforehand asking if they've seen, noticed or found the forgotten item. I'll just go back to the store, and assertively say in a few words: 'I've forgotten the X item. Here's the receipt, please bring it back to me'.
The assertive tone is crucial, if you don't want them to start asking questions such as: perhaps you forgot it in another store, or on the bus, perhaps it fell off the shopping cart , etc..
Sometimes, the threat of sending a complaint to management or a threat of never again buying there , shortens the process and make your tactics work in no time.