PC Retail

But, after months and months of searching and talking, the vendor has finally found a major partner to sell its products and services in the UK and beyond – DSGi.

Some 1,300 stores will be part of the deal offered by DSGi, and Dell can add this to the Carrefour deal it has had in the bag for some months. The Dell-DSGi deal has come at the right time for both companies. Each one is going through a period of change, and that change has not always been for the better.

As I write this, DSGi has been relegated from the FTSE 100 and not too long ago, Dell was replaced by HP as the world’s leading vendor of PCs.

The interesting thing about HP of course is that its machines are almost all sold ‘offline’ – through retailers. And this hasn’t escaped Dell’s attention.

Dell has had to finally accept that the age-old sales pitch of ‘try before you buy’ is still reassuring to many millions of people – even now, in the 21st century.

But the Dell deals bonanza has left most of the computer retail industry out. From distributors to resellers, and independents to builders, all were interested onlookers as Dell aggressively sought to woo the big retailers.

Is this a mistake? Can Dell afford to ignore the industry? DSGi will sell Dell products through PC World, Currys, Currys.digital and dixons.co.uk. Upwards of 1,300 stores across Europe will now stock Dell products. Dell could yet turn to the rest of the trade and do deals there, but that remains to be seen.

It’s a very interesting time for the industry, which makes me feel all the more fortunate to be joining PC Retail as editor as of this month. I hope to continue the good work done by my predecessors and do my bit to produce the best title of its kind in the industry.