More than 100,000 brands have started selling in the US stores of Amazon so far this year, and sales from brands were up by 60% at the end of June compared to the same time last year, Amazon announced during its Accelerate 21 virtual conference in support of its sellers.

At the event, Amazon also launched an array of tools, services, and benefits to help brands build and maintain customer relationships, as well as increase sales and profitability.

“We want Amazon to be the best place for brands of all types and sizes to succeed, and we’re dedicated to helping them share their story and products to customers around the globe,” said Ian Simpson, vice president of selling partner services at Amazon.

New tools, services, and benefits for sellers on Amazon include the Customer Engagement tool to help brands launch marketing campaigns more easily and to raise awareness of their new products. Since the program’s launch in May, Amazon said it had sent more than 6 million emails to customers on behalf of brands.

Also offered by Amazon is the Customer Resolution tool, which enables brands to attend to frustrated customers or to those who leave negative reviews. Sellers can also issue a courtesy refund to unhappy customers, if needed. Since the tool was launched in June, brands have offered enhanced support on more than 200,000 orders per month, Amazon noted.

Other tools offered by Amazon that brands can use are the Referral Bonus, which provides a bonus to sellers when they redirect non-Amazon marketing traffic from their website or other websites to Amazon; and A+ Story Cards, which enables sellers to showcase their brand story through rich visual imagery.

Amazon said that last year it invested more than $18 billion in logistics, tools, services, programs, and teams to help sellers get started, build their brands, and leverage the scale possessed by Amazon to reach more customers. Amazon sellers have created an estimated 1.8 million US jobs managing, operating, and supporting Amazon-related businesses, the giant online retailer added.