"ecommerce" is a fairly broad term. If you're referring specifically to web retail, I can make a few comments here. First, the problems to be solved in web re

"ecommerce" is a fairly broad term. If you're referring specifically to web retail, I can make a few comments here. First, the problems to be solved in web retail aren't particularly "hard" in comparison to the kind of problems being solved by, say, the more recent YC startups. One thing that is critical in web retail is good architecture and clean code, specifically with interface coupling. Between third party order/product feed integration, promotions, special offers, sales tax, duties, shipping concerns, etc, the "special case" and edge condition pile grows very rapidly in this industry. Building a sufficiently generic framework for your system and keeping concerns as loosely coupled as possible is probably the most critical aspect to the technology of a web retailer.