Significant change hits California self checkouts as shoppers allowed to buy controlled substances

California shoppers are getting a very different kind of checkout surprise.A Sacramento dispensary has become the first in the state approved to let customers purchase cannabis products through self-checkout kiosks — a retail twist that would have sounded like a futuristic fever dream just a few years ago.Perfect Union Northside dispensary recently rolled out RFID-powered self-checkout after parent company MWG Holdings Group scored approval from California regulators — bringing the “grab, scan and go” experience to a place shoppers never expected.The move marks a major milestone for the state’s tightly regulated marijuana industry, bringing a familiar convenience-store feature to a product category that still comes with plenty of rules and red tape.“Cannabis retail is maturing fast, and we intend to lead that shift,” MWG Holdings CEO Tom Sheridan said in a recent statement.“Bringing RFID-powered self-checkout to Perfect Union Northside gives our guests a faster, more seamless experience while giving our teams sharper inventory control and stronger security.”The new system lets shoppers ditch the old-school beep-by-beep routine. Instead of scanning each product one at a time, RFID technology can recognize multiple items at once — speeding customers through checkout while keeping the dispensary’s inventory in check.The system also had to clear California’s regulatory hurdles before going live.After a review by the Department of Cannabis Control, regulators gave the high-tech checkout the green light, confirming it could stay on the sales floor after successfully syncing with the dispensary’s payment system and Metrc, California’s cannabis tracking platform.Translation: The weed world got a tech upgrade — but regulators were still watching closely.Perfect Union Northside’s self-checkout is now available to customers at the Sacramento location, with the company saying the technology will help improve inventory visibility, efficiency and ...