See the forum post linked in my signature, which covers compression and browser caching and more. As long as mod_rewrite and gzip are enabled on your server, it'll work for most server configurations. You can check for mod_rewrite compatibility in your CS-Cart admin, via Administration>Database>PHP Information.
You should see something similar to:
HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING: gzip, deflate
Loaded Modules: mod_rewrite (amongst many others)
If gzip and mod_rewrite are enabled, speeding up your store is quite simple following the guide I posted.