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Dell Computer will get its products in front of mall shoppers without worrying about retail markups or inventory costs, making permanent a kiosk sales system set up during the recent holidays--and starting a deal with Sears, Roebuck--to sell Dell PCs, a Dell spokesperson said Thursday.

The Round Rock, Texas, PC vendor is known primarily for its Web-based direct-sales model, but it has entered into an agreement with the Austin, Texas, Sears store to install staffed kiosks containing samples of Dell products, said Venancio Figueroa, a Dell spokesperson.

Dell will also maintain its kiosk program in malls around the United States, Figueroa said. Cell phone carriers such as Cingular Wireless and Nextel Communications are known for their mall kiosks, where customers can evaluate new phones and make purchases.

Customers won't be able to take Dell PCs home from the mall kiosks, but they will be able to ask questions of Dell sales associates, start an online custom-configuration program, or make a purchase through Dell's Web site, he said.

Retail Rivals

Dell isn't releasing information on the financial details of the agreement between the company and Sears, Figueroa said.

The deal provides an interesting way for Dell to compete against rival PC maker Hewlett-Packard, which sells Compaq PCs through Sears retail shelves, according to a customer service representative at the Sears store in the Cambridgeside Galleria in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sony's VAIO PCs are also available through the Cambridge Sears.

The retailer also sells HP and Sony notebook computers, as well as HP's Compaq desktops, through its Web site.

HP recently retook the lead from Dell in global PC shipments in the fourth quarter, according to market research released by IDC of Framingham, Massachusetts.

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