Following up from a previous entry, Mike Willbanks has posted some clarifications on points previously made and the highlights on what he thinks a good framework should entail.

I decided to clarify and also explain some of my thoughts and ideas that an e-commerce framework should hold. These thoughts and ideas may be a little rough around the edges but I wanted to give a definition to the meaning of what I feel a framework is in this case as well as items that would potentially be a part of this framework.

Some of his requirements are things like reusable design, useful/easy to use components, functionality for both payment processing and courier handling as well as a catalog system to help manage items.