• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, March 29, 2010

Westin Hotels and Resorts launched an online storefront on Amazon.com March 1 to sell Westin-branded products, along with other brands available at the properties.

Amazon.com/Westin is being supported through a series of print and online campaigns, running in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today, that offer hotel guests a $100 Amazon.com gift card if they stay at a Westin hotel twice between now and May 13.

The storefront will remain online for one year, with an option for Westin to extend its longevity.

Westin's company Web site offers guests the option to purchase items such as candles, lotions and shampoos, while researching hotel prices. The Amazon.com storefront will provide Westin a greater consumer reach and increase product offerings.

Westin partnered with Riedel, Tea Forte and Method, among other brands made available to purchase through the storefront.

Users can buy Westin shampoos and conditioners for $12 each, or spring for the Westin Heavenly Mattress & Box Spring for $1,695. I wonder if the mattress falls under free shipping for purchases of $25 or more... It doesn't. Shipping costs $225. More than 200 items in total are available via the storefront..

Westin is the first hotel brand to create an online storefront on Amazon.com, following in the steps of clothing retailers like Macy's and Tilly's.

"The idea for the Amazon.com storefront came from our engagement strategy," said Jennifer Gavin, director of digital strategy for BBH NY, the agency behind the storefront. "The Westin clients tasked us to develop a new, compelling offer -- but rather than first focusing on 'what' to offer people, we flipped our approach and instead first examined where the people we wanted to target were already spending their time. We gathered data, and our numbers told us that Amazon.com was the perfect 'where.'"