LocalGinger.com, a start-up shopping website that connects consumers with businesses through the Internet, plans to launch within two weeks in Newburyport, starting with an exclusive deal on discounted wine classes from Leary's Fine Wines & Spirits.

LocalGinger.com will feature a deal a day from a network of popular retail stores, restaurants, salons – any company that wants to offer a deal. In order for customers to receive the deal, a certain amount of purchases must be made by placing bids. If the threshold is met, everyone gets the deal at the end of the day.

Co-founder Arik Keller, said:  “Our goal is to create a fun connection between local customers and businesses by promoting exclusive deals for our customer base, that require a certain number of sales for the deal to take place.”

There is no sign-up fee for merchants, Keller said, and the application will be free to customers. LocalGinger.com takes a percentage of the sales.

“We’re excited to give it a try and think the site has great potential for us as a business,” said Todd Baltich, the owner of Leary's Fine Wine and Spirits.  Leary’s is scheduled to run a promotion highlighting an exclusive wine education class through LocalGinger.com. Other businesses that are participating in the company’s launch include Riverside Cycle, Repose Yoga Studio in Newburyport, Crafters Quarters in Amesbury and Tupelo Music Hall and Capri Seaside Italian Grille in Salisbury.

Future plans include delivering offers to smartphones based on a customer's location. Keller and Parisi most recently worked at Newburyport’s DNSstuff, which offers tools and services related to the domain name system.

Keller said: “[The site] is a great way for a business to highlight an offer that is going to be virally spread by our customers, ultimately creating buzz and driving revenue. We expect customers will take advantage of the easy way to spread the word through email, Facebook and Twitter.”

In the future, buyers will also be able to vote on offers to help LocalGinger.com deliver more targeted deals. Said co-founder Paul Parisi: “Our technology will be constantly learning from the success of each campaign and will eventually become a smarter delivery mechanism for businesses to hit the right customer at the right time when they need to drive some foot traffic.”

Said Aaron Millett, co-owner of Riverside Cycles: “It’s pretty neat. It’s not the first time it’s been done.” Following a pretty clean model, LocalGinger.com is being beta-tested in Newburyport and within a 25-mile radius of Newburyport.  Visitors to the website will see new deals every few days and can also sign-up to receive email alerts for new offers.

Keller said LocalGinger.com hopes to create 10 to 20 jobs in the city this year. Non-profits that promote LocalGinger.com to their contact lists will get a donation from the company as well as a portion of the revenue generated by their members.

In the photo: LocalGinger.com co-founder Arik Keller in his office on Liberty Street