diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 5e13305..3f05973 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -29,3 +29,7 @@ A MongoDB backend for HTTP cache storage. It stores responses using GridFS.
 To use it, set the following Scrapy setting in your project::
 
     HTTPCACHE_STORAGE = 'scmongo.httpcache.MongoCacheStorage'
+
+To enable zlib compression, set the following Scrapy setting in your project::
+
+    HTTPCACHE_COMPRESSION = 'zlib'
diff --git a/scmongo/httpcache.py b/scmongo/httpcache.py
index 75f8cfe..1125ff8 100644
--- a/scmongo/httpcache.py
+++ b/scmongo/httpcache.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ class MongoCacheStorage(object):
 
     def __init__(self, settings=conf.settings):
         self.expire = settings.getint('HTTPCACHE_EXPIRATION_SECS')
+        self.compression = self._get_compression_algorithm(settings)
         self.db = get_database(settings)
         self.fs = {}
 
@@ -33,7 +34,8 @@ def retrieve_response(self, spider, request):
         url = str(gf.url)
         status = str(gf.status)
         headers = Headers([(x, map(str, y)) for x, y in gf.headers.iteritems()])
-        body = gf.read()
+        compression = gf._file.get('compression')
+        body = self._decompress(gf.read(), compression)
         respcls = responsetypes.from_args(headers=headers, url=url)
         response = respcls(url=url, headers=headers, status=status, body=body)
         return response
@@ -46,12 +48,14 @@ def store_response(self, spider, request, response):
             'status': response.status,
             'url': response.url,
             'headers': dict(response.headers),
+            'compression': self.compression,
         }
+        body = self._compress(response.body)
         try:
-            self.fs[spider].put(response.body, **kwargs)
+            self.fs[spider].put(body, **kwargs)
         except errors.FileExists:
             self.fs[spider].delete(key)
-            self.fs[spider].put(response.body, **kwargs)
+            self.fs[spider].put(body, **kwargs)
 
     def _get_file(self, spider, request):
         key = spider.name + '/' + self._request_key(request)
@@ -65,3 +69,19 @@ def _get_file(self, spider, request):
 
     def _request_key(self, request):
         return request_fingerprint(request)
+
+    def _get_compression_algorithm(self, settings):
+        compression_algorithm = settings.get('HTTPCACHE_COMPRESSION')
+        if not (compression_algorithm == 'zlib' or compression_algorithm is None):
+            raise ValueError("Compression algorithm %s not supported" % compression_algorithm)
+        return compression_algorithm
+
+    def _compress(self, response_body):
+        if (self.compression == 'zlib'):
+            return response_body.encode('zlib')
+        return response_body
+
+    def _decompress(self, compressed_body, compression):
+        if compression == 'zlib':
+            return compressed_body.decode('zlib')
+        return compressed_body