What are the general "steps" for ecommerce?

[marcc]

I want to get started with ecommerce soon and I'd like to know what the steps are to get going - not so much with the software, but with merchant accounts, payment gateways (how to pick one?) etc.

So far I know I need to get a merchant account - do I just walk into my credit union and ask for one? I also know I need to install something like OSCommerce and sign up with a company like ECHO for payment processing. What else is there? How much time will all this sign-up stuff take (are there any long delays in the process)?

Or are there any online tutorials that explain this stuff well?

Thanks!