Which mathematical innovation first revolutionized retail inventory management in the 1970s, leading to the modern barcode scanning systems?

The intersection of mathematics and retail technology has transformed how stores operate and analyze customer behavior. From predictive analytics to inventory optimization algorithms, mathematics has been crucial in developing retail innovations. This trivia question explores a significant historical development where mathematical principles revolutionized the retail industry.

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The Simplex Algorithm for Linear Programming
Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling methods
Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) for signal processing
Bayesian Networks for probabilistic reasoning