Online shopping leads to growth of grassroots model "Madou"

Girls who walk the fashion runway are called models, while online models are warmly referred to by netizens as "Madous." The "Madou" business is beginning to thrive in Zhengzhou, and "Madou" usually earn between 50 and 80 yuan per day.

Zhang Jingwen, a 12-year-old girl from Zhengzhou, is a first-grade junior high school student and 1.7 meters tall. At present she works as a “Madou” for an online store run by her older female cousin. When she wears make-up she looks like Taiwanese entertainment celebrity Xidi Hsu, so she brings in a lot of business for her cousin's store.

Madous Miss Zhao Ying

There are many "Madous" like Zhang. Those who have good figures and know how to pose can enter this emerging industry, and they will have more advantages if they have lovely cheeks and a nice disposition.

Reporters learned that some online store owners directly act as both bosses and "Madous" because of the low job threshold. Qiao Jie, a new college graduate, is one of these. Qiao, a household item and apparel store owner, initially uploaded only article photos which were so plain that she could barely attract any regular customers. She therefore decided to act as a "Madou" for her own store, which to her surprise increased the sales instantly.

Qiao said that many of her classmates have chosen to open online stores and acted as a "Madou" because they cannot afford to hire other "Madous". "Those who have a nice disposition, good figure and sweet looks, and seem like girls next door are most popular," Qiao disclosed the conditions for becoming a "Madou."

Yu Bin, an online store owner, bluntly explained the requirements for a "Madou", stating “Girls who have good figures can become "Madous." Reporters discovered that online store owners in Zhengzhou generally hire school students as part-time models and pay them 50 to 80 yuan per day, without signing complicated contracts or making modeling designs.

Having learned about the profession, Miss Wang who works at a company in Zhengzhou said, "It seems that I can also become a "Madou". If possible, it is really good in two aspects - I not only get to wear pretty dresses, but also to earn extra money."

At present, the "Madou" profession is gradually attracting the attention of people from all walks of life. It was reported that a Hangzhou-based news agency discovered that the online shopping market has such a high demand for "Madous" that some professional model agencies have organized teams to operate online model business.

Industry insiders noted that "Madou", as a new type of profession, has offered new employment options to new college graduates.