Green Eggs and HAM
Form refers to the architecture of an entity. Its function refers to what it actually does. When someone arrives on a website, the first thing he will notice is the form, that is to say the interface of the website. This parameter including the colors or even the layout of the items will play an important role in the shopping experience. The function is also an essential point of the website. The customers have to navigate easily between the pages, and also have to be able to find what he is looking for in the first seconds. That is why having a clear meta description is usefull to communicate with your potential customers. But other details have their importance too. The payment methods for instance, reflects in some way the honesty of the merchant. People are much more suspicious on the web, and tend to trust sites they have heard of before. Brand awareness is something to count on. I have never bought anything on Ebay or Wish, but because I know these sites (word of mouth, facebook ads…), I trust them blindly. Having an after sales services helps a lot too.
In conclusion, I will say that online shoppers does not value one more than the other. If they did not like the form, they will not trust the website and go away. If the function is a mess, and they can not find what they are looking for in first 40 seconds, they will leave.