As retailers settle into their routine this year, one thing must change from 2009: mobile must no longer suffer benign neglect. At risk are dashed consumer expectations for consistent experience across store, catalog, online and mobile.

While retailers and marketers have suffered through a 2009 holiday of endless checklists, sage advice and told-you-so’s, now is the time to examine how the American consumer is changing in her shopping and buying habits, as well as in her receptivity and response to targeted marketing messages.

Of this retailers can be certain: the engagement with online marketing and ecommerce has increased, as evidenced by a strong showing over the holidays. What is also emerging as an undeniable truth is the role that mobile is coming to play in search and discovery, shopping and buying.

With more smartphones and data plans in consumer hands, retailers can bet their bottom dollar that the mobile Web, mobile applications and SMS text messaging will play a critical role in customer acquisition and retention across all channels, and not just mobile.

The To-do’s:

1) A mobile-friendly Web site, mobile application or SMS program, or a combination of all three. These are the building blocks of a strong mobile presence.

2) Assuming that the retailer has a mobile site or application, is it user-friendly? Is the site or application designed to be intuitive? How many tabs? How easy is it to search merchandise on the mobile store? And how is the merchandising on the site – what gets priority on the homepage?

3) has the retailer looked at SMS as its best mobile ally for loyalty-building? Every retailer worth its salt must have an opt-in SMS program for alerts, sales and discounts, store drivers and coupons. Link that SMS program to the overall loyalty program including store, catalog and online.

4) a strong mobile marketing program. This year may prove that leaving mobile advertising and marketing out of the media mix will come at some cost