Most of the time we think of Amazon's Echo devices as Bluetooth speakers with some handy voice commands built in, but the retailer wants to remind you they're also tools for shopping. In the run-up to the company's annual Prime Day sale (July 12th), Amazon is offering a number of Echo-exclusive deals. There's not a massive range of items available, but the company is knocking $10 off any order over $20 made through Alexa. That's one way to encourage people to shop with their voice.

buy a grill, a drone, or another echo device

Current deals include $50.99 off an Amazon Tap (the portable version of the Echo), $34.99 off a Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler, and $14.98 off a camera-equipped quadcopter. An additional $10 discount is added to each of these if it's your first purchase through Alexa and more deals will be announced on July 12th as part of Prime Day.

What are Amazon's ambitions with the Echo as a shopping device? It's not totally clear. After all, these deals are not necessarily impulse buys. If you're getting a grill, for example, you'll probably still want to look up the exact specs online. But offering them in the first place introduces Echo users to the idea of shopping with their voice, and if we can learn anything from Amazon's hardware history, it's that the company is always thinking up new ways for us to buy things — ideally with minimal effort (and thought). Order a drone for a lark from Alexa today, and you could soon be asking it for a resupply of regular kitchen items and toiletries.