SANTA MONICA, Calif. - With shoppers fleeing grocery stores to make more food purchases at drug, dollar and convenience stores, supermarkets have been in a tough spot lately. But a new survey finds that grocery stores commit several mistakes that really make shoppers angry, Marketing Daily reports.

The Supermarket Guru survey found that shopper pet peeves include high prices, missing signs and products placed out of reach. Sixty-two percent of shoppers said they hate it when stores run out of sale items, making this the top pet peeve.

"It??s amazing to me that in today??s world?"with just-in-time inventory and all the technology they have, that stores let this happen," said Phil Lempert, CEO of the Supermarket Guru. "There is just no excuse for that."

These problems have driven consumers to find alternative places to purchase food, such as the increase in food sales at such drugstores as CVS, Duane Reade and Walgreens.

Another top complaint is products on top shelves being too high to reach, with 35 percent of survey respondents saying they hated this. Promotional displays bother 28 percent of respondents.

"With aging baby boomers and arthritis, putting products on shelves that are too high is just annoying," said Lempert. "At stores like Walgreens, you don??t have these very tall gondolas and it??s a much more comfortable shopping experience."

Other complaints include stores that give out checkout coupons with very short dates (32 percent) or those that require buying a companion product (46 percent); and stores with enough cashiers (44 percent). Other vexations focus on products, such as around 38 percent of respondents saying perishables and meat, seafood, deli and bakery items cost too much and 34 percent pointing to those items not always being fresh.

"This is a wake-up call for supermarkets," said Lempert. "Shoppers want a lot more than low prices."