European retail chain Carrefour has announced plans to start selling Dell PCs next year.

The deal is Dell's first with a retailer in continental Europe, and will apply to 365 Carrefour stores in Spain, Belgium and France.

Mark Ormerod, vice president and general manager of consumer business at Dell EMEA, said that the deal would supplement the firm's traditional direct sales model.

Customers will be offered "an environment where they can experience the look and feel of Dell products before purchasing".

The deal is the latest in a series of retail agreements that Dell has signed in recent months in order to gain retail footholds worldwide.

Other deals include Carphone Warehouse in the UK and Wal-Mart in the US, Canada and Latin America. Dell also announced plans to up its retail presence in China and Russia.

The shift to retail sales is part of a larger rebuilding effort by the company spearheaded by the return of Michael Dell as chief executive in February.

Dell has been working to supplement direct sales and regain its market lead from rival HP.

The firm has also been tinkering with its customisation offerings. Dell was among the first to allow users to decline Windows Vista in favour the older Windows XP.

Dell was also among the first major PC vendors to offer Linux pre-installed on consumer systems.