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Retailers that integrate in-store with timely information via mobile will be well-positioned to lead the way this holiday season when non-store sales are expected to see a double-digit increase.

Overall, holiday retail sales are expected to increase between 2.5 percent and 3 percent. However, non-store sales are expected to 14 percent and mobile will grow significantly off a small base.

Online is still only 10 percent, in some cases 20 percent, of retailers’ overall sales, and mobile is a fraction of that. Mobile will continue to grow as the apps get easier to use and more prevalent.

Overall, it may prove difficult for retailers to post a gain on top of last year’s results, when holiday sales increased 5.9 percent following several years of poor performance. Retail sales are expected to reach between $873 and $877 billion during the Nov.-Jan. holiday period.

The problem is that waning consumer confidence, persistent weakness in the housing and employment sectors as well as pressures from the European debt crisis is threatening to stall growth in consumer spending, which had been on the rise for several months.