Amazon extends Christmas shipping deadlines

NEW YORK - Amazon (AMZN) is courting last-minute holiday shoppers by extending its free-shipping deadline by one day to Dec. 19.

Orders over $35 are eligible for free shipping. Last year's deadline was Dec. 18. The e-commerce company says members of its $99 annual Prime loyalty program can order by Dec. 22 for two-day shipping.

One-day shipping for items ordered on Dec. 23 costs $2.99 and up for Amazon Prime members. And same day delivery is available in 12 cities on items ordered by 10 a.m. local time for $5.99 per shipment.

Retailers are hoping to avoid shipping snafus that occurred last year while at the same time getting the last-minute online shoppers dollar.

Walmart (WMT) said last week the cutoff for orders with standard shipping to reach homes by Christmas is Dec. 19.