Dabs.com makes its French debut

Online computing and technology retailer dabs.com launched in France yesterday.

Dabs.com marketing director Jonathan Wall said he expected www.dabs.fr to make a 'meagre' six-figure profit in the financial year to March 31, 2005, on turnover of EUR25 million (£16.6 million).

Wall said: 'We chose France after a lot of research into price comparison engines such as Google, which operate in the UK and France. With Google, for every 100 people who search for a product in the UK, there are about 80 in France for the same product.'

However, he added that the revenue forecast was 'pessimistic', because a question mark hung over how French consumers would receive a UK brand.

Dabs.fr will initially offer about 2,300 lines, primarily computer hardware, such as printers and digital cameras. Wall said once the company had turned a profit in France, it would consider entering other European countries, with Germany a favourite. Dabs.com expects UK turnover of about£233 million this year.