In computer science, cache (pronounced cash) refers to the memory stored in the computers central processing unit (CPU) or another separate chip that serves as a storage for data and instructions to be used for future requests. This makes the computer’s performance remarkably faster since requests are answered more speedily because the data is already “cached” or ready to be accessed anytime.

In web browsing “caching” of web data or web documents is very important especially in terms of faster loading time. Web caches lessen loading time, because data can be accessed directly through the cache, which uses less bandwidth and a lower server load.

This is very important, since competing is very high for e-commerce sites so that visitors/customers do not only look at the content and the user interface but also compare site speed. A slow site will surely suffer if terms of return visitors since people will opt to go with sites that are more convenient to use.

Another way the term cache is used in the internet is when referring to web archives. Popularized by the search engine, Google, cached pages or cached sites refer to the older version of the web pages that are stored in the search engine’s servers and/or index so that even when the site is down people can see the “cached paged” and so view the last stored content of that page. Some sites store multiple copies of old pages of one URL for reference, acting like an encyclopedia containing snapshots of a website through time.