In a single-player shop app, activation is usually one motion: a person finds something and pays. In a marketplace app the same screen stack hides two populations. A buyer who never places a first order and a seller who never receives a first request are failing different tests, even if they both opened the app on Tuesday.
Teams in Penang who run food, classifieds, or parts-exchange apps often report a blended ‘activated user’ figure to their board. That figure mixes a rider’s first completed trip with a driver’s first accepted job, or a shopper’s first checkout with a stall’s first fulfilled bag. The blend is tidy. It is also how a thin supply side stays invisible for a quarter.
When we write an activation report we insist on two definitions before any funnel is drawn. For buyers: the first action that consumes supply. For sellers: the first action that puts supply within reach. In a food-delivery app those are often first paid order and first order accepted during open hours — not first menu upload, which can sit idle for weeks.
The practical consequence is dull and useful. Your export must be able to say which account is which. If a single ‘sign_up’ event does not carry a role, the report will stop at registration and say so. Better a short honest document than a funnel that pretends a hawker and a hungry office worker are the same person.