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This Christmas, last-minute shopping goes to a new extreme in Denver.

You have Amazon to thank — or blame — for this. After most stores close on Christmas Eve and after children are nestled safe in their beds, Amazon Prime members in Denver can still place an order for a last-minute gift up until 9:45 p.m. and get it delivered before midnight. For free.

“One of the unique things about Prime Now, especially for the holiday season, is because we offer one- to two-hour delivery for customers, we extend the shopping window听all the way to 11:59 on Christmas Eve,”听said听Amanda Ip, an Amazon spokeswoman.

The online retailer expanded its physical presence in Colorado this year — from its first fulfillment center to its new Treasure Truck, which makes surprise neighborhood stops — allowing it to offer new services such as two-hour delivery called Prime Now.

But let’s face it, Denver is among the last major cities to get these features. Amazon has already changed how America shops —听and how America’s shops serve customers. Walmart, Target and others also have听invested in technology to allow same-day pickup and for some stores to stay open until听the 11th hour on Christmas Eve.

“The thing about Amazon is that it’s changing the game for all retailers,” said Melissa Akaka, who teaches marketing at the University of Denver. “But the changes they made, from Prime and getting free shipping, it makes it really hard for other retailers. It makes it difficult to compete.”

Over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the number of听, according to the National Retail Federation. But even more shoppers did both. The organization credited retailers’ investments in technology for helping the industry stay on track to grow sales 4 percent to a projected $682 billion this holiday season.

But making sure technology works so people can shop online is one thing. Not many retailers are 听. Or have developed their own 听to drop off packages. Or have a year to join a program such as Prime,听which offers two-day delivery at no extra cost.听Amazon has shown what can work for the company — and its customers are getting used to this new normal.

“The idea that you can order a package and have it delivered in two hours, we now know this is actually possible,” said Akaka, a Colorado transplant from Hawaii who does much of her shopping online. “But the idea that you can put off your shopping until Christmas Eve, that’s a little scary to me.”

While there has been pushback — REI famously 听in 2015 to nudge people outdoors — Amazon’s influence on competitors has some pushing all the way to the last hour. Kohl’s will be 听Dec. 21 until 6 p.m. Christmas Eve.

Dollar General is keeping stores open nightly 听— even on Dec. 24. Target goes all the way to the 11th hour, opening at 7 a.m. Christmas Eve and听., depending on the store.

Walmart, which will be open until 6 p.m. Christmas Eve, says demand for its “” orders double in the two weeks before Christmas. So it has added more items for same-day pickup.听Stores are also offering curbside pickup, mobile payments and online orders at a local store.听It has also added blank gift cards in stores so听customers can grab one before the store closes and load up a value online later.

Target, too, is in full holiday mode, with some local stores open until midnight听this month. The retailer is also pushing its听 (not available, however, in Denver) and same-day order pickup. And it is going head to head with Amazon by offering free shipping on a $25 minimum purchase until Dec. 23.

Delivery services also are听trying to keep up. The U.S. Postal Service, which has delivered Amazon packages on Sundays over the past few years, is delivering seven days a week.

But even as Amazon may be doing more of its own deliveries this year in Colorado, USPS workers aren’t just sitting around,听said听David Rupert, a USPS spokesman for Colorado.听The number of packages that the USPS plans to deliver nationwide this season is 10 percent higher than last year.

“I don’t know if it (Amazon) is increasing our volume or decreasing our volume. All I know is our package growth is up,” Rupert said. “Colorado is following those (national) trends, and in many cases, the volumes here are even larger than 10 percent. There’s population growth on top of an overall growth in package volume.”

For the record, the USPS delivers on Christmas Day if you plan ahead and pay for it. , which starts at听$23.75, offers Christmas Day delivery.

Amazon made a heavy public push to control more of its delivery after bad weather and other issues delayed Christmas deliveries in 2013. The to customers who didn’t receive their Christmas orders in time.

Today, the company has two large package facilities in the Denver area with a third on the way. It employs contract workers, the USPS and other carriers to get orders to customers on time. The company also operates a smaller Prime Now hub in north Denver听that stocks a limited number of items available for two-hour delivery.

At Prime Now, shoppers typically find stuff such as toilet paper, fresh eggs, HDMI cables and Amazon Echo devices throughout the year. But for the holidays, there are also ugly sweaters, reindeer-antler headbands and Christmas tree ornaments.

“We bring in fresh poinsettias during the holiday,” Ip said. “We definitely curate our offerings. Last year, we noticed different trends in customer habits leading up to the holiday for Prime Now. They still weigh heavily on daily essentials, but as you get close to the holiday season, you see a lot more items like stocking stuffers, a lot of gift wrap, a lot of egg nog.”

The Prime Now sites are smaller than fulfillment centers, which have “tens of millions of items (instead of) tens of thousands” in Prime Now facilities, Ip said.听A 听next year could mean Denverites get access to millions of items with — a service already nationwide.

“Just from watching the volume of cars driving through my neighborhood, delivering Amazon packages, I would say consumers are just as happy to buy from them as ever,” said Nikki Baird, a Denver resident and managing partner at retail-tech analysis firm RSR Research. “I don鈥檛 think it抖阴ap a risky bet to predict that Amazon is going to come out a winner yet again this holiday season. In Denver and in general.”