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Amazon is touting its Prime program again this holiday season, reminding members that they can order gifts as late as midnight EST Sunday, Dec. 22, and still get free delivery before Christmas.

The online retailer is leveraging the shorter shopping period this year, which is one week shorter than last year’s, to drive sales by emphasizing the convenience that online shopping can afford — a surefire way to draw shoppers who want to avoid the imminent crowds this weekend.

More Americans now say they are loosening the purse strings in advance of the holiday season, and fewer say they are tightening their belts, according to a recent Citi national survey.

Only 35% said they would be spending less than last year, reflecting the lowest level of holiday budget cutbacks since the financial crisis. As many as 63% of Americans plan to spend more (11%) or the same (52%) on holiday shopping this year.

New York - Nearly four-in-10 Americans (38%) plan to spend less this holiday season than they did last year, while 14% plan to spend more this year and 47% plan to spend about the same amount as last year. According to a new Bankrate.com report, Americans planning to spend less outnumber those planning to spend more in each age and income group.

Duane Reade launched a “Show Us Your Party Legs” holiday photo contest on Facebook. The contest is a omnichannel social media marketing campaign that aims to raise awareness of Duane Reade-brand hosiery products that will run through Jan. 4.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation issued the following statement from senior VP and general counsel Mallory Duncan in response to U.S. District Court Judge John Gleeson’s approval of a controversial antitrust lawsuit over credit card swipe fees:

Walmart’s ad match policy states that if its customers find an item at another store at a lower price, it will honor the lower price. In fact, the retailer is currently touting its Christmas ad match policy, which covers electronics, toys and grocery produce.

Reston, Va. -- For the holiday season-to-date, $31.5 billion has been spent online, marking a 9% increase versus the corresponding days last year, according to comScore. However, as noted in previous releases, Thanksgiving Day was six days later this year than last and causes more heavy spending days to fall in the year ago period, thereby diluting growth rates at this point.

Green Monday (Dec. 9) saw $1.4 billion in desktop online spending, up 10% versus year ago, representing the third heaviest online spending day of the holiday season-to-date.

Austin, Texas – Nine-in-10 (87%) holiday shoppers surveyed still have presents to buy. Recent surveys by RetailMeNot and The Omnibus Company found that nearly 200 million Americans have not completed their holiday shopping.

Nearly nine-in-10 (88%) winter holiday shoppers surveyed said they have had to buy gifts in the 11th hour. Parents seem to be the biggest procrastinators, as nearly all (95%) parents surveyed admitted to waiting until the last minute to buy holiday gifts.