IT IS being trumpeted as a knight on a white charger for the busy woman who can't manage to get to the shops. The bi-monthly PS magazine aims to combine all the usual elements of a woman's glossy with an upmarket, home-shopping catalogue.

"We hope to empower busy, style-conscious women with both convenience and choice," says publisher Susan O'Hare. "Everything inside PS is available direct from any phone. If you see something you like, you will be able to pick up the phone and buy it direct." The title, which was launched last week, is the first of its kind for the home-shopping market. It is also the first venture into the women's market for Dennis Publishing of Maxim fame, and the UK's leading IT publisher. Its multimillionaire owner, the former hippie Felix Dennis, was jailed in the notorious Oz magazine obscenity trial in 1971. Susan O'Hare has moved over to the title from Dennis's MacUser, where she was also publisher. Rachel Shattock, former deputy editor of Cosmopolitan and She, and former editor of She's Having A Baby, is the magazine's editor-in-chief.

Aimed at the 25- to 45-year-old market, O'Hare believes that PS will attract not only hardworking "cash-rich, time-poor" women, but also working mothers, and the "geographically challenged" who can't get to certain shops. Products include clothes, perfume, furniture, accessories for the home, holidays, books and food.

Advertisers in the launch issue, which has a print run of 200,000, include retail companies with a mail order arm such as Laura Ashley and Marks & Spencer, as well as companies dedicated to home shopping, such as Boden.
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More than 50 per cent of the magazine is dedicated to staple women's editorial - fashion, beauty, home, health and travel. "We want to provide aspiration, entertainment and escapism, all the things that readers look for," says O'Hare.

However, some may question whether "time-poor" ABC1 women would spend their precious free moments on the bi-monthly's editorial, if the first issue is anything to go by. The "style" interview with Tamara Beckwith reveals the It Girl's favourite three items in her make-up bag, her favourite room at home, and, her favourite colour. The interview with Gail Porter, the TV presenter who is notorious for stripping for men's magazines, begins: "March is always a special time for me because my birthday's at the end of the month and I'm a bit of a birthday person."

The "smile" section offers such lines as "Men park cars. Women get stuck", and "Men snore. Women breathe deeply". The health page gives advice on allergies, and the "body" section tips on weight control such as eating less fat.

Some may also question whether busy women have time for the problems associated with home shopping. Clothing sizes vary enormously from store to store, and many women take two sizes with them into a changing room. Those who find themselves with items that don't fit will have the extra hassle of parcelling them up again, and getting to the post office or arranging for them to be picked up by a courier company.

There is also the added burden of having to go to the nearest sorting depot to pick up anything too large to get through your letterbox in your absence, and those who order bulky items such as furniture will have to arrange to be at home for the delivery.

And how many people would order a pounds 950 leather armchair without wanting to sit on it first? While most mail-order companies offer a cashback guarantee if a customer is not totally satisfied, how many busy people could bare to go through the delivery and collection process until they find the chair that really suits them?

O'Hare, however, is undeterred. "Ninety per cent of people who do shop from home are extremely happy with the service provided," says the publisher. She believes she is sitting on a potential golden egg. "The home-shopping market has exploded 43 per cent in the last five years, and it's set to be worth pounds 13bn by 2002. There's massive potential for this market."

PS also has its own website, featuring not only selected items for sale, but also an interactive guide to the best online shops in the UK, as well as advice on buying securely through the Internet.

There is no other meaning behind the magazine's title, apart from the obvious. "It researched very well," says O'Hare. "Lots of people use it as a postscript, and felt warm to it. It was something you used when going to share things with friends."