Four years ago, I took my kids to Amsterdam. After a long day of touring museums and canals, they started to whine. Then I hit upon the perfect bribe: look, there’s the Apple store. After half an hour of playing with iPads, iMacs and iPhones, they were all smiles as we walked back to the hotel.

Their enthusiasm helps illustrate why Apple stores are generally considered the world’s most successful. Their glass walls and wooden tables full of gadgets generate far more sales per square foot than any big retail competitor.

This brings us to Thursday’s launch of Angela Ahrendts’ new vision for the company’s retail outlets. The former Burberry chief executive, who was given a stock grant worth up to $68m on her arrival at the tech group, has spent the past two years rethinking its offering as its product range changes. The result, unveiled in San Francisco on the 15th anniversary of the first Apple store opening, will be rolled out across many of the group’s 400 stores in 18 countries.