Bloomberg J Sainsbury Plc reported a surprise increase in fourth-quarter sales as it ponders whether to boost its bid for Argos owner Home Retail Group Plc. Same-store sales rose 0.1 percent excluding gasoline in the nine weeks ended March 12, London-based Sainsbury said in a statement on Tuesday. The gain ended two years of declining sales and compares with analyst ...

San Francisco / AP Online retail colossus Amazon is seeking a US patent on using selfies — instead of passwords — for shopping when using smartphones. Seattle-based Amazon reasoned that combining sensor and camera capabilities in smartphones with face and gesture recognising software results in higher security than passwords or identification numbers. “Such approaches provide for user authentication without the ...

NEW YORK / AP The Fresh Market, a grocery store chain, has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Apollo for more than $1.3 billion. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, comes after Fresh Market said in October that it was seeking to possibly sell itself. Apollo said that it is paying $28.50 for ...