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Well as a former chef, first one is a liquid the other a solid, both are made from Vegetable based product, lard is made from animal fat (pork), shortening starts out as a liquid and is whipped and they introduce hydrogen gas in to solidify it and make it a solid, it is better in pies, cakes and other product were oil is better for frying, salad dressing and other products too, you can melt shortening to fry but it takes 2 times as much as oil to get the same volume.

From a health perspective the difference is great. Shortening is hydrogenated which means it has undergone a process to make it more solid. It was developed as an inexpensive substitute for lard, which is animal fat and produces the flakiest, lightest pastries. Shortening is a transfat, now considered as bad or worse as saturated (animal) fat for contributing to clogged arteries.
Olive, peanut and soybean oil are some of the MUFAs. MUFA is an acronym for monounsaturated fat and is dietarily desirable to help reduce body weight, belly fat and support good blood cholesterol balance.
I’ve found that substitution of some olive or peanut oil for half the lard or shortening yields acceptable results. However, you will never get a pie crust made from scratch or French fries that are more delectable those made with lard!
Below is a link for more information on monounsaturated fats. More information can be found through Internet search engines using keywords such as MUFA, transfat, dietary fats, etc.

Oil is usually derived from plants and contains a fraction of the bad stuff it was invented to replace. Shortening is animal fat and full of bad things.

Flavor

oil is better for you, it clogs the arteries less