It has been a busy summer for Cars.com.

A month after ringing the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange as a fully spun, publicly traded company, Cars.com announced July 5 that its Lot Insights technology had recently earned a patent.

Earlier this month, Auto Remarketing caught up with Cars.com insights and analytics manager Jeni Pecard by phone to talk about the project in which she was instrumental.

“For us, I think it’s our confirmation from the industry overall, and also just confirmation at a wider level, that we truly are first and we’ve got something here that’s extremely valuable and unique,” Pecard said of the patent.

“And so I think that’s what makes me most excited about it, is that one, it helps show that as a company, we’re moving forward in this direction of pushing the horizon in technology,” Pecard said. “And then, two, that we really do have something unique and special.”

Lot Insights — to which the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued Patent No. 9686646 — was launched in 2015. It picks up on mobile consumers who are either at or close to dealership lots in order to provide insights on their shopping activities.

Pecard said the company has received a good bit of dealer feedback on Lot Insights, with the top response being requests for even more information. So the company is doing research on what metrics make most sense to share with dealers so that they are able to take action within their own businesses, she said.

Cars.com used the Lot Insights technology to create the On-the-Lot Trends Reports, the first of which examined mobile shopping behaviors for May. This report shared the most-viewed makes and models by seven different styles (luxury, trucks, compact sedans, midsize sedans, full-size sedans, SUV and luxury SUVs).

A full rundown of that report can be found here.

“It gives you a little bit more insight about what people are doing at that critical buying moment while they’re actually on the lot … you can see what they’re showrooming while they’re physically on the lot,” Pecard said.

Many people assume that once a shopper is at the dealership, he or she isn’t looking at other rides anymore, she said.

Cars.com has found has that is not the case. They’re on their phones doing a lot of “last-minute checks” and cross-shopping while they’re at the store, Pecard said.

“The behaviors they exhibit earlier on in the shopping process are very different than what they do when they’re on the lot or they’re ready to make a purchase,” she said.

As far as those “last-minute checks,” Pecard said these mobile, on-the-lot shoppers are looking up photos, many times, photos of other vehicles that they have been considering.

These shoppers are also checking out financing options and special offers, she said.