diff --git a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
index 8a1927a39ca..5934cb21f81 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 ### SDK Features
 
 ### SDK Enhancements
-
+* `service/cloudwatch`: Add helper to send request payload as GZIP content encoding
+  * Adds a new helper, `WithGzipRequest` to the `cloudwatch` package. The helper will configure the payload to be sent as `content-encoding: gzip`. It is supported by operations like `PutMetricData`. See the service's API Reference documentation for other operations supported.
 ### SDK Bugs
diff --git a/internal/encoding/gzip/handler.go b/internal/encoding/gzip/handler.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ea0d4bc2477
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/encoding/gzip/handler.go
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+package gzip
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"compress/gzip"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"strconv"
+
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/request"
+)
+
+// NewGzipRequestHandler provides a named request handler that compresses the
+// request payload.  Add this to enable GZIP compression for a client.
+//
+// Known to work with Amazon CloudWatch's PutMetricData operation.
+// https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/APIReference/API_PutMetricData.html
+func NewGzipRequestHandler() request.NamedHandler {
+	return request.NamedHandler{
+		Name: "GzipRequestHandler",
+		Fn:   gzipRequestHandler,
+	}
+}
+
+func gzipRequestHandler(req *request.Request) {
+	compressedBytes, err := compress(req.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		req.Error = fmt.Errorf("failed to compress request payload, %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	req.HTTPRequest.Header.Set("Content-Encoding", "gzip")
+	req.HTTPRequest.Header.Set("Content-Length", strconv.Itoa(len(compressedBytes)))
+
+	req.SetBufferBody(compressedBytes)
+}
+
+func compress(input io.Reader) ([]byte, error) {
+	var b bytes.Buffer
+	w, err := gzip.NewWriterLevel(&b, gzip.BestCompression)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create gzip writer, %v", err)
+	}
+
+	inBytes, err := ioutil.ReadAll(input)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed read payload to compress, %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if _, err = w.Write(inBytes); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to write payload to be compressed, %v", err)
+	}
+	if err = w.Close(); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to flush payload being compressed, %v", err)
+	}
+
+	return b.Bytes(), nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/encoding/gzip/handler_test.go b/internal/encoding/gzip/handler_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..746027fd87b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/encoding/gzip/handler_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+package gzip
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"net/http"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/request"
+)
+
+func TestGzipRequestHandler(t *testing.T) {
+	handler := NewGzipRequestHandler()
+
+	req := &request.Request{}
+	uncompressed := "asdfasdfasdf"
+	req.Body = strings.NewReader(uncompressed)
+	httpReq, err := http.NewRequest("POST", "http://localhost", strings.NewReader(uncompressed))
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	req.HTTPRequest = httpReq
+
+	expectCompressed, err := compress(strings.NewReader(uncompressed))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expect no error, got %v", err)
+	}
+
+	handler.Fn(req)
+	if req.Error != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expect no error, got %v", req.Error)
+	}
+
+	if e, a := "gzip", req.HTTPRequest.Header.Get("Content-Encoding"); e != a {
+		t.Errorf("expect %v content-encoding, got %v", e, a)
+	}
+	if e, a := strconv.Itoa(len(expectCompressed)), req.HTTPRequest.Header.Get("Content-Length"); e != a {
+		t.Errorf("expect %v content-length, got %v", e, a)
+	}
+
+	actualCompressed, err := ioutil.ReadAll(req.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ReadAll request body failed, %v", err)
+	}
+	if !bytes.Equal(expectCompressed, actualCompressed) {
+		t.Errorf("expect new body to equal expectCompressed")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/service/cloudwatch/customizations.go b/service/cloudwatch/customizations.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4c8ec0c0e25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/service/cloudwatch/customizations.go
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+package cloudwatch
+
+import (
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/request"
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/internal/encoding/gzip"
+)
+
+// WithGzipRequest is a request.Option that adds a request handler to the Build
+// stage of the operation's pipeline that will content-encoding GZIP the
+// request payload before sending it to the API. This will buffer the request
+// payload in memory, GZIP it, and reassign the GZIP'ed payload as the new
+// request payload.
+//
+// GZIP may not be supported by all API operations. See API's documentation for
+// the operation your using to see if GZIP request payload is supported.
+// https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/APIReference/API_PutMetricData.html
+func WithGzipRequest(r *request.Request) {
+	r.Handlers.Build.PushBackNamed(gzip.NewGzipRequestHandler())
+}
diff --git a/service/cloudwatch/customizations_test.go b/service/cloudwatch/customizations_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5a40eed326a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/service/cloudwatch/customizations_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+//go:build go1.7
+// +build go1.7
+
+package cloudwatch_test
+
+import (
+	"context"
+
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/session"
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/awstesting/unit"
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatch"
+)
+
+func ExampleCloudWatch_PutMetricDataWithContext_withGzipRequest() {
+	client := cloudwatch.New(sess)
+
+	// The WithContext form of the operation methods accept request options.
+	// The WithGzipRequest option will gzip the request payload before it is
+	// sent.
+	result, err := client.PutMetricDataWithContext(context.TODO(), params, cloudwatch.WithGzipRequest)
+
+	_, _ = result, err
+}
+
+var params *cloudwatch.PutMetricDataInput
+var sess *session.Session = unit.Session