Amazon.com Inc. is giving shoppers until less than a week before Christmas to get their free shipping orders delivered by Christmas Eve.

The largest online retailer in North America today announced that shoppers ordering with free shipping can order by Dec. 19 to have their items before Christmas. Amazon’s previous cutoff was Dec. 18. 

Of the 693 retailers in the 2014 Top 500 Guide and Second 500 Guide that currently offer free shipping, Amazon now has a later deadline for free guaranteed Christmas Eve delivery than all but 25 online merchants, according to an Internet Retailer-exclusive survey. For example, the deadline for free shipping at Nordstrom Inc., No. 24 in the Internet Retailer 2014 Top 500 Guide, is today and ScotteVest Inc., No. 763 in the 2014 Second 500 Guide, is tomorrow. Among the retailers with later free shipping deadlines are J. Crew Group Inc., No. 60, which will let shoppers order until Dec. 20, and Sears Holdings Corp., No. 5, which has a Dec. 23 cutoff.

Shoppers who pay for Amazon’s Prime two-day shipping program can order by Dec. 22 and have their items by Christmas Eve; if they pay for one-day delivery, which starts at $2.99, they can place their orders as late as Dec. 23. In the 12 markets where Amazon offers same-day delivery, shoppers can order items as late as 10 a.m. on Christmas Eve and get them before midnight.

Amazon is also promoting its Prime program, which includes streaming TV shows, movies and music, as well as other benefits as a gift option for holiday shoppers.

“This is a unique holiday season,” says Greg Greeley, vice president of Amazon Prime. “With so few shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, this weekend can be hectic for many holiday shoppers—fighting crowds while struggling to find just the right gift.” Amazon, he suggests, offers alternatives to that hassle.

Amazon, No. 1 in the Internet Retailer 2014 Top 500 Guide, does not disclose how many Prime members there, except to say the number exceeds 20 million. As a $99-per-year Prime membership covers an entire household, analysts estimate anywhere from 25-50 million consumers can take advantage of the two-day shipping program.