Computer giant Dell said today that it has given Carrefour the go-ahead to punt its notebooks and desktop PCs to three locations in the European market.

Dell, which for many years shunned the channel in favour of spouting its direct sales-only biz mantra, abandoned its so-called "religion" in May this year in the hope of pushing up flagging sales by going direct.

Carrefour, which claims to be the world's second largest retailer, will begin selling Dell computers at 365 of its stores based in France, Spain and Belgium from January next year.

In its stampede to woo the channel, Dell has recently been inking deals with big name retailers across the globe, including WalMart and Staples in the US, Bic Camera Stores in Japan, and Gome in China. ®