[raj_kumar]

Ecommerce or electronic commerce is easily defined as, operating a business and obtaining new customers, using the internet.

There are four essential components you need to build a successful ecommerce web site.
1. Ecommerce Web Site Design
2. Professional Ecommerce Web Site Hosting
3. Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software
4. Ecommerce Merchant Account

[cube3]

yeah i agree...all these 4 are your main ingredients...you cant whip a good meal without them!

[pbradish]

You also need:

1) a DBA or some sort of state and federal business license.
2) Professional logo.
3) Solid hosting provider (usually dedicated or semi).
4) dedicated IP for the SSL.
5) SEO skills.
6) Offline promotional material i.e. business cards, ect.
7) Dedicated phone line or 800 number.
8) Software for your books i.e. QuickBooks.
9) Business account at your bank with a decent amount of padding funds (don't mix business $ with personal $ - big mistake)
10) Quality customer service skills.

... and the list goes on. There are so many other factors that go into running a successful ecommerce web site. If you don't have a solid grip on all of them, you will crash and burn guarenteed.