Amazon's latest perk will be available not just for its Prime members but for all holiday shoppers this year. The online retailer announced that starting today, November 5, all US-based Amazon customers can get free shipping with no minimum purchase amount. While the perk lasts only for a "limited time," Amazon explains that the promotion will affect orders that arrive in time for the Christmas holiday.

Typically, Amazon imposes a $25 minimum order amount for non-Prime members to get free shipping. This promotion waives that minimum for the time being and puts Amazon in step with competitor Target, which waived its $35 order minimum and now offers free two-day shipping to all customers through December 22. Walmart, arguably Amazon's biggest competitor in the US, has kept its $35 minimum threshold for free shipping for this holiday season (so far, at least).

Amazon is trying to capture as much of the holiday shopping market as possible as it faces growing competition from the likes of Target, Walmart, and other retailers. Amazon already offers free two-day shipping to its Prime members as a standard benefit, but those customers pay $120 annually for Prime. Amazon raised the price of a Prime membership by $20 earlier this year.

Removing the minimum order amount could convince non-Prime members to shop at Amazon more this holiday season than they might have previously. Amazon has the advantage of inventory, with millions of items eligible for free shipping, while Target and Walmart have thousands. Also, Amazon's shipping and delivery infrastructure is much larger than that of any other US retailer (Target and Walmart have been expanding and striking up partnerships in order to better match Amazon's delivery system).

However, Target and Walmart have many more brick-and-mortar locations than Amazon does, even with Whole Foods' locations counting in Amazon's favor. Both retailers use their thousands of locations to their advantage by offering services like curbside pickup for grocery orders and special in-store promotions.

Amazon instituted a number of promotions and discounts at Whole Foods after it purchased the specialty grocer for $13.7 billion last year, but most of those deals are for Prime members only. As far as other brick-and-mortar stores go, Amazon has a bookstore, top-rated items stores, and cashierless Amazon Go convenience stores across the country, but the number of physical locations pales in comparison to traditional retailers. Amazon likely hopes that offering free shipping with no strings attached to all will convince more people to do most of their holiday shopping online.